Love's Fool
by Jade Elise
Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.
1. Prologue

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

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Prologue  
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He was smiling when the phone rang. Not a smirk, not a grin, not a fake curling of lips to cover the hidden pain…a real genuine smile. It wasn't the first one either. He'd done a lot of smiling these last few months. As insane as it sounded, for once in his god-forsaken undead life, Damon Salvatore was actually happy. Who'd have thunk it? Of course, when he pulled the phone out of his pocket and glanced down at the name on the screen that same smile turned into a grimace. Life wasn't meant to be all sunshine and roses after all. Here came the rain and the weeds.

"Who is it?" the beautiful brunette he'd been smiling at a moment before was now pouting at losing his full attention. She plopped down on the stool beside him and leaned in close to look at the screen.

"Your lover boy, actually," Damon drawled. "Wanna answer it?" He tossed the phone down on the counter and reached for his half-full tumbler of exquisite bourbon. Something told him he was going to need the liquid fortification.

The brunette smirked as she ran her fingers through the short black curls at the base of his neck. "You really want him to know you're with me? He'll think you've defected to the dark side." Her fingers danced on his neck and her lips were a whisper away from the shell of his ear as she purred. "Don't forget, Damon, I'm a bad bad girl."

"Hard to defect when you already live there," Damon told her as he reached up to remove her hand from his neck and placed it harmlessly on the bar. "I'm the evil brother, Katherine. Hanging out with you would just be living up to my potential."

Katherine Pierce rolled her eyes in disgust as she thought about the merry band of Mystic Falls misfits. "Self-righteous little assholes, I honestly don't know how you put up with them as long as you did."

"I was still in my tragic love phase," he chuckled.

The phone finally stopped ringing when neither of them reached to answer it. Katherine pursed her lips and stared at the gadget as if it would bite her. "You realize he's going to call back. We're not that lucky. The world must be coming to an end if he's desperate enough to call you."

"Or maybe he just wanted to invite me to the wedding," Damon said. He turned to face the brunette and cocked his head to the side. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Wanna be my plus one?"

"Eww…" and a comical facial expression were her only reply.

Damon couldn't help but laugh. It'd been a year and counting since he'd packed his bags and taken Katherine up on her offer to skip town and Damon honestly hadn't regretted the decision once. He and Katherine still fought like cats and dogs and she still pouted and bitched that he wouldn't hop into bed with her, but somehow the two of them just fit. She was one of the few people alive who truly knew him. She was his sire, his first real love, and they shared a bond that could never truly be broken no matter how hard they tried. Besides, in the end who else did they really have but each other? Certainly not his saintly brother, Steffy was still living out his epic love with his soulmate in Mystic Falls.

Speaking of baby brother, Damon's phone started to ring again. Katherine snarled and crossed her arms over her tastefully accentuated chest. "I am not watching your idiot brother marry that whiny little doppelbitch."

Damon's answering grin held an affection that would have shocked most of the residents of Mystic Falls. "You can dress yourself up in mourning," he teased.

"Please," Katherine said, "how many times do I have to tell you I'm over it? I thought your brother would be more fun as a vampire, boyish and charming with a zest for life. As it turns out, he's just annoying and broody both on and off the wagon." She raised her eyebrows haughtily, "my doppelbitch is welcome to him. They can sit around and cry together."

Still grinning, Damon shook his head and reluctantly reached for the phone. Unfortunately Katherine had been right before. Their luck seemed to be running out and Stefan would just keep calling until he answered. Damon pushed the button and placed it to his ear. "Big evil speaking, how can I help you?"

"Damon, why the hell didn't you answer your phone?" Stefan growled. "We've got a serious problem and we need your help. How soon can you get back home?"

Now Katherine's eyes narrowed as she listened in to the conversation. "That shithole is NOT your home. Your home is with me."

"Touching," Damon said, "but not the point." He turned his attention to his brother. "What's the problem, Steffy? It better be cataclysmic or you're on your own. I have my own life to live."

"Are you talking to someone?" Stefan asked annoyed. "It's not like I come to you often for help, Damon. The least you could do is pay attention to me."

"What…is…the…problem?" Damon asked again.

"Someone stole the stake," Stefan admitted reluctantly. "I know what you're going to say but save it. We kept it safe and hidden. There was no way someone should have been able to locate it."

Damon ground his teeth together, "and yet they did." He hadn't wanted to leave the stake in Mystic Falls when he left, but he'd been seriously outvoted. Against his better judgment, Damon had given way to the others. Now, as always, it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

"There's no guarantee that they wouldn't have found it on you, Damon," Stefan insisted. "We're almost positive witchcraft is involved. Bonnie thinks Esther's up to her old tricks. She's been having dreams about her."

"Fabulous," Damon drawled, "those two do have so much in common after all. They're both witches and bitches."

For once Stefan let the jab pass without comment. "We've also found symbols around our houses, ways witches apparently marked their targets in the old days. Someone's coming after us all. We need your help. You have just as much at stake here as we do."

Damon rolled his eyes at the unintentional pun. "Where's Klaus?"

"What do you mean, where's Klaus? We can't trust him to help us."

"Have you been sniffing paint, Stefan?" Damon said. "I mean, we need to warn him to watch his ass. If he dies, we die. Get it?"

There was a pause before Stefan spoke again. "We don't have a way to contact him, Damon. He left town right after Bonnie restored his body and put him back in it. That was part of the deal. But I guess we can ask Rebekah if she has a way. They haven't been on the best of terms."

Now Damon's expression turned incredulous. "Barbie Klaus is still in Mystic Falls?"

"Where else did she have to go?"

"Hell?" Damon said. After her fucked up stunt on Wickery Bridge Damon had been more than ready to send her there himself and he'd had just the stake to do it with at the time. Fortunately for the Original bitch she'd gone to ground before he pulled himself out of his grief and went after her.

"Look, I'll talk to Rebekah," Stefan said, "just get back here."

"Whatever," Damon hung up the phone and slammed back the rest of his bourbon. He closed his eyes and propped his head on his fist. Mystic Falls was the last place Damon ever wanted to see again. He hated even thinking about it. But what choice did he really have?

"Looks like the shit's about to hit the fan," Katherine drawled as she leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Damon could feel it already. The weight was settling back on his shoulders. That town was sucking him back in like a black hole. He hated Mystic Falls and everything it stood for. He hated what it represented, what it turned him into. In Mystic Falls, Damon was the evil brother everyone loved to hate. They all sat up on their pedestals in their glass houses and looked down their righteous little noses at him. In Mystic Falls Damon would always be that asshole psychopath who rolled in on a cloud of bad attitude and tried to eat the town. Nothing he did would ever matter. They would always be better than him. Just ask them. There was no redemption, no wiping the red off his ledger. There was only room for one Salvatore hero in Mystic Falls and Damon was well aware it would always be Stefan.

* * *

Reviews are deeply appreciated!


	2. Chapter One: It's been a while

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

The morgue had been the last straw. Walking into the sterile death room and seeing Elena lying on that cold hard slab almost killed him. She'd woken up by that point and Stefan was standing there comforting her. The worthless piece of shit LET her die and he had the gall to stand there and cry with her at the cruelty of the world. Something inside Damon snapped. As it turns out, Damon had only thought he'd wanted to kill Stefan over his betrayal of Katherine all those years ago. The feeling paled in comparison to the pure molten rage that pumped through his veins in the morgue. He'd have done it too. He would have killed Stefan with a smile on his face and a song in his heart, but of course Elena had to get involved. Damon stood there and listened to her defend her one true love, her soulmate, her choice.

Damon stood frozen, stunned at how pathetic his life had become as his baby brother and Elena declared their undying love for each other. Letting her die, respecting her wishes and saving Donovan instead, that was what made Stefan the better man, the man that Elena loved. Stefan was the right choice. Stefan was what she needed.

When Elena started her tortured dialogue of 'will she, won't she' transition-style, Damon was just done. He was disgusted, sick to his very core, and as far as he was concerned they fucking deserved each other. Right before he walked out the door and out of their metaphorical lives, he told them so. He headed straight to the nearest liquor store, bought every bottle of bourbon they had in stock, and drove to the cemetery to bury the body of the best friend he ever had. All the fighting, all the death and all the sacrifices for what? An ignorant teenage girl who throws it all away and willingly gives up.

He'd spent the rest of the night and all the next day toasting Ric and debating taking off his ring and taking a sunlight walk. His phone rang so many times and from so many different callers he thought about smashing the fucker to pieces. Stefan, Jeremy, Caroline, Meredith, Liz, Carol, the Boarding House, the Gilbert House, even fucking BONNIE called him and he ignored them all. It was only the last call that got his attention.

The final call was from Katherine. She told him to pack his shit and meet her two towns over. Somehow or another she'd heard the news and she said it was time for him to come home. The fight was over. One final trip to the boarding house, one final massive blowout with the Mystic Misfits about everything from Elena's now fully-transitioned status, to the super-stake, to his leaving town and Damon blew out the front door and out of Mystic Falls for good. Good riddance.

The first few months he'd been miserable and mean as a fucking snake. Damon had done his best to revert back to days past. He'd drank and whored his way through every town they passed. The one line he wouldn't cross was killing his prey. He'd come close a few times, been tempted, and he'd almost beat a couple of drunk assholes to death with his bare hands in a bar fight, but something held him back. Damon refused to focus too close on what that something was. He told himself he didn't want to prove them right. That's what they thought of him…what they expected and as Damon had told Elena on one oh-so-fateful night, he didn't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations…or well down in this case but whatever.

Eventually somehow Damon had found himself calming down again. He drank less, stopped fucking everything that moved, and even went back to feeding mostly on blood bags. He almost fell out in shock the day he realized Katherine was sustaining herself the same way. When he called her on it she just shrugged and explained that less feeding meant less moving and she was tired of running. Besides, she'd smirked, after five hundred years killing really wasn't that big of a thrill anymore. She killed when she had to, when it was necessary, or when she was pissed off, but there was no point in going around killing off the food supply.

After that discussion, they'd stopped hopping every town after two weeks and hung around as long as they liked. They'd spent the last three months solid in a small town located outside of Birmingham, Alabama. They were close enough to the city to feed and party if they wanted, but far enough out that the noise didn't drive them insane. It didn't hurt that Birmingham had about six major hospitals located in its metropolitan area. They'd even talked about buying a place to live and settling there semi-permanently.

Life had been pretty good…until his damn phone rang. Now he was throwing his things into the Camaro and willingly heading back to Mystic Falls. He regretted it already.

* * *

"You're not going to try to turn this little rescue mission into a permanent relocation back to Mystic Hell, are you?" the stunning brunette drawled from the passenger seat. She turned her head to face him and tipped her sunglasses down so she could make eye contact when she glared at him. "I will beat the shit out of you, snap your neck, throw you in the trunk, and drive us back to Alabama myself."

Damon's eyes danced and the corners of his mouth tipped upward, "Promise?"

"Count on it."

Rolling his shoulders restlessly, Damon tried to focus on the road and ignore her glare burning through him. "We find the stake, hopefully removing any witches after Saint Stefan in the process, and then we wave at them in the rearview mirror on our way back out of town."

"You wave," Katherine said, "I'll flip them off." She looked back forward just in time to groan as they passed the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. "Have I mentioned lately how much I HATE this fucking town?"

Damon couldn't help but feel his own mood sour along with his sire's. He was really back. He couldn't believe it. Fucking hell. "If I didn't love the Camaro so much, I'd take that damn sign out on our way back out of town. Welcome, my ass."

The two fell silent as Damon followed the familiar roads toward the boarding house and brought the last leg of their journey to a close. He was somewhat relieved not to see any cars parked out front as they pulled to a stop. It wasn't a guarantee no one was home, they did have a garage, but in the past Elena and her annoying friends had always parked out front. Damon knew he would have to face them all eventually, but he would prefer to get settled before dealing with anyone except maybe Stefan who should be expecting him.

"Let the fun begin," Katherine grumbled as she opened the car door and slowly climbed out stretching like a cat and showing off an impressive amount of skin in her tiny crimson halter top and painted on jeans. Damon watched as her long brown curls bounced when she strutted to the back of the car and leaned back against it waiting for him to open the trunk. He climbed out of his own door and walked around to accommodate her. When she grabbed both their luggage, Damon gave her a questioning look. She smirked. "I'll deal with this. You deal with your brother."

Damon made a face. "In what world is that a fair trade?" She grinned as she strutted away dragging the suitcases across the gravel. Damon took a deep breath and prepared himself for what was to come. He didn't want to drag this out. He didn't want to get involved in any immature petty drama. He was here to find the stake and then he was gone. In and out, that was it. This was a mission, not a damn reunion. Straightening his leather jacket and running his hands through his hair, Damon followed after his sire.

Katherine had stopped to wait for him at the front door. She made a show of playing with her nail, but Damon knew she was avoiding knocking and facing Steffy alone. Damon wondered if Stefan already knew someone was here or if he was back on the bunnies and his senses really were that bad. God, he hoped his idiot brother had at least continued working on his control over the last year. All they needed was to be facing down the super-stake and a bunch of witches with the bunny brigade for backup. He and Katherine might as well go solo.

Throwing Katherine a mocking look, Damon reached up and knocked on the front door. It opened before his hand even dropped back to his side. Damon was momentarily relieved as he stared at is brother. At least his senses weren't dull. Then Damon remembered that the last time he'd seen his darling brother he'd buried a stake through his guts for kicks and he hoped Steffy wasn't holding a grudge. "Hello, little brother."

Stefan looked at the two new arrivals stunned. He frowned confused at his sire. "Elena?"

Katherine's lips curled in disgust and she turned to Damon. "And that is why YOU are my favorite Salvatore." Blowing Damon a kiss, she stepped forward and shoved past Stefan knocking him sideways with her hip as she drug the luggage behind her. She tossed her curls over her shoulder and glanced back at the brothers on her way to the stairs. "I'll just be getting us settled into your room, Damon. Join me when you're finished catching up with Romeo. We could both use a shower after the drive and you know I love to conserve water."

The last jab was classic Katherine and Damon smiled in appreciation. He also took his time watching that curvy backside sway as she strutted away. When she started climbing the stairs, Damon shook his head and looked back to Steffy. Baby brother was still stunned speechless at the unexpected turn of events. "What, you thought Gilbert decided to curl her hair?"

Stefan tried to pull himself together. He glared at Damon. "You invited Katherine, Damon? What were you thinking?"

"Invited is a word," Damon mused, then he shook his head again as he stepped forward over the threshold to the boarding house and past his brother, "look it's a long story, Steffy, but she was with me when you called and we can use all the help we can get. She wants that stake back just as much as we do. "

"You know how Elena feels about her, Damon."

Damon sneered in disgust. "Gilbert will just have to go put on her big girl panties then, Stefan, because we are dealing with more important things than her immature inferiority complex because Katherine tapped that first."

The woman in question laughed from up the steps. Stefan glared after the sound. "We don't need Katherine."

Gritting his teeth, Damon faced off with his saintly brother. "We're a package deal. Get over it." He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath as he told himself to calm down. Stefan looked exactly the same. He was all angst, teenage drama, and hair gel brooding away his forever in his eternal seventeen-year-old glory. Well fuck that, this wasn't why he was here. No immature drama bullshit, he was here for the stake and then he was gone. He was above this, he was over it. "You can fill me in later, Stefan. I'm going to save my closet from Katherine."

Before Damon could take more than two steps, Stefan awkwardly cleared his throat. "About your room…"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Katherine's outraged voice filled the air as she came flying back down the stairs and next to Damon. Her eyes flashing fire and voice dripping venom, she turned to her companion. "Give me your wallet."

Damon felt his mood head even further south. "Why?"

She smiled and cocked her head to the side, but Damon could see the veins trying to raise themselves through the flawless olive skin around her eyes. "Because, darling, I'm going to buy us some new furniture and bedding."

Once again, Damon told himself to take a deep breath and stay calm. He looked back at his brother for some reasonable explanation even as he reached into his back pocket and pulled his wallet free to hand to Katherine. "You were saying?"

Stefan clenched his jaw and glared at his brother defensively. "You know as well as I do how volatile newborns can be. She wasn't thinking clearly."

Damon looked helplessly at Katherine trying to gage just how bad the damage was. He'd loved his room. He'd set it up perfectly to match is tastes and preferences. The veins around Katherine's eyes darkened even further but she wouldn't answer his look. She flashed Stefan a fang as she stormed past him. "Stupid fucking little doppelbitch!"

After a few more minutes of struggling for control of his famously bad temper, Damon was finally able to look at his brother again without seeing red. Stefan was still prepared for battle and nervous as hell. Damon had no desire to set him at ease, but the standoff couldn't last forever.

He wouldn't even let himself look toward the stairs as he walked into the parlor and toward the sidebar. If his exceptional eyesight wasn't betraying him, the crystal decanters and glasses also looked different than he remembered. Taking in Stefan's rueful expression, Damon decided he didn't want to ask. It didn't matter. Get in, get the stake, and get the fuck out…that was all that mattered. He poured himself a drink and lifted it slowly to his lips for a sip. "I believe you were going to fill me in?"

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter Two: The gang's all here

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Just to clear it up, Damon and Katherine are not currently involved in the story. They have been traveling and living together. They are more like family and best friends at this point. They are each other's home. That doesn't mean they couldn't become involved later if the right circumstances present themselves. I honestly don't know if I'll go there or not. It depends on if I feel like Elena can redeem herself enough to deserve another shot with Damon.

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

If nothing else, the girl was thorough. There wasn't a usable piece of furniture in the room. Damon fought back his instinctive reaction to lash out and exact revenge for the deliberate personal attack. What was he going to do? Kill her brother…again? It wasn't even the furniture that really bothered him. Sure, she'd shredded his mattress, his pillows, and what looked like every piece of clothing he'd neglected to pack, but he could handle that. What really burned him was that she'd torn apart his books. He couldn't bring himself to dig through the wreckage and verify each and every one, but he could see the torn pages littered throughout the feathers, cloth, and shards of broken wood. What the fuck did she think he'd done to deserve this?

Damon turned away from the scene before him in disgust. They were just things. They could be replaced…mostly. He grabbed his suitcase and rolled it with him toward the bathroom. He could really use that shower now.

In direct contrast to the connecting room, his bathroom and shower were spotless and in perfect condition, no stale air, no mildew, not a single speck of dust. The towels and washcloths were fresh and fluffy. Damon could even smell the fabric softener on them. He refused to allow himself to delve too deeply into the observation because if he found out that Stefan and Elena had been using his bathroom together, he really would start snapping necks.

Damon stripped off his clothes and stepped into his luxury shower. He turned the water on hot and moved under the spray. He'd really missed his shower. If he could have boxed it up and carried it with him when he left Mystic Falls behind, Damon would have. Letting the steaming water pound the knots out of his back, Damon tipped back his head and wet his hair. With his eyes still closed he reached instinctively for the shampoo holder and grabbed the bottle his fingers landed on. He opened the top, squeezed some into his palm and returned it to the holder. Rubbing his hands together to make it lather, Damon ran his fingers through his hair and over his scalp. The smell reached his nose a second later. It was flowery, girly, and obviously not something he would ever purchase.

Damon froze as his blood boiled over. He opened his eyes and cut them toward the shampoo holder. Herbal fucking Essences? Seriously? "DAMN IT, STEFAN! IS NOTHING IN THIS FUCKING HOUSE SACRED?"

If his brother had any reply to that, Damon didn't hear him. Instead he focused on breathing in and out and not exploding into a destructive rage. At this point, if he made it out of this shithole without killing everyone in his path, he'd deserve a metal from fucking Gandhi.

* * *

Half an hour later, Damon made his way downstairs. He was clean, wearing fresh clothes, and ready to face the masses. If he could keep his temper in check after seeing first-hand the destruction left in the wake of the bomb that hit his room, he could handle just about anything.

"Stefan, you have to give her some warning," Damon heard Caroline's voice for the first time in over a year. It was still like nails down a chalkboard. Sometime during those brief miserable weeks he'd been dating the formerly-dumber blonde, Damon's body had become programmed to wince at the sound. He hadn't reached the parlor yet, but he could clearly hear Blondie's conversation with his baby brother taking place inside. "If she shows up and just finds him here…"

"I'm not telling her over the phone, Caroline," Stefan's voice sounded dire with foreboding. "We'll deal with her reaction when she gets here. It's been over a year. She has much better control over her emotions now."

"Are you joking?" Caroline said. "Tell me you're joking."

"She's dealt with it, Care. She let him go and put him behind her."

"She smashed every personal effect she could get her hands on!" Caroline hissed.

"That was the newborn rage…"

"That was an Elena Gilbert hissy fit," Caroline corrected him. "I know you didn't have much experience with them, Stefan, because you didn't know Elena before her parents died. But trust me, that girl knew how to throw one mean shit fit back in the day and they've definitely made a comeback since she sprouted fangs."

"She's right, Stefan," Bonnie's voice joined the mix, "you need to warn her or we're going to be cleaning up pieces of furniture and crystal again. If you don't want to handle it over the phone, then go catch her before she leaves her house."

"I can't do that," Damon could hear the reluctance in his brother's voice, "it turns out we have bigger problems than dealing with Damon being back in town. He brought Katherine with him."

"He WHAT?" Blondie screeched.

"Of course he did," Bonnie voice dripped sarcasm, "because adding that psychotic bitch to the mix will make this situation so much better."

"You're telling me we've got two vampire Elenas running around Mystic Falls?" That was Donovan's voice and Damon found himself grinding his teeth in remembered rage. It wasn't the human's fault Stefan had chosen to save him over Elena, but Damon wasn't known for being the rational brother.

"Leave it to Damon to refuse to show up without a hot chick on his arm," Tyler Lockwood sounded amused.

"She's not a hot chick," Blondie growled, "She's KATHERINE! That bitch is nothing but trouble."

"And look who she rolled in with," Bonnie said.

"Look," Stefan sighed, "it could end up being a good thing. Damon has a point. She wants the stake back just as much as we do. She has just as much to lose."

And now that Stefan was defending him and throwing the balance of nature entirely out of whack, Damon decided it was time to make his appearance. He flashed forward to stand in the doorway. "If you superheroes don't want our help, we'll be more than happy to leave you to it."

Caroline spun immediately to face Damon and for just a second he thought he saw her eyes light up, but then she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. With her gleaming blonde curls, wearing a pink top, matching mini-skirt, and cream pumps, she looked like a pissed off Elle Woods. "You brought the super bitch with you?"

He cocked one brow. "Like I said if you don't want our help…"

Caroline rolled her big blue eyes, "oh shut up, you know we need your help. But you could have left Katherine on the bottom of the shoe where you found her." She turned and bopped her way over to sit on Lockwood's lap on the couch.

Tyler smiled at Caroline and wrapped his arm around her before turning back to nod at Damon in acknowledgement. "Hey man."

Looked like that twisted love story was still going strong. Damon nodded back at him. He noted Donovan was sitting next to Tyler and looking a little uncomfortable in Damon's presence. He gave the human props for intuition. Bonnie was sitting on the other side of Matt with her hand on his knee in an obvious show of support. Stefan walked around to position himself behind them leaning against the back of the couch and facing Damon. It was as if nothing had changed.

Fabulous, here they were, all comically arranged into Team Stefan and Team Damon. All that was missing was the tacky t-shirts. Unfortunately, the only other member of his team was off somewhere cleaning out Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Damon smirked and cleared his throat in the suddenly silent room. He started to move toward his armchair by the fire, but then paused as he realized it wasn't there.

Looking to the couch he opened his mouth. Caroline quickly shook her blonde head. "Don't ask."

Tyler tried to keep a straight face. "Trust me, man, you don't want to know."

Even Bonnie looked amused. "Be very glad you took your car." Tyler and Matt both nodded in agreement.

Damon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened them again he focused on Stefan. "Has anyone gotten in touch with Klaus?"

All four occupants of the couch scowled in unison at the name. Stefan shook his head. "Rebekah's trying to reach him, but he won't answer her calls. She called Elijah and Kol. They're going to see if they have any better luck."

"I might be able to convince Katherine to help find him," Damon said. "She didn't spend five hundred years evading him without learning how to track him."

Stefan looked doubtful, "Klaus is the last person Katherine would ever want to help us find."

"We're not inviting him back to town, Steffy. We're just telling him to watch his ass." He paused thoughtfully and walked over to drag a chair away from the wall and out to face the couch. He sat down and leaned back propping his left foot on his right knee. "I'll work on Katherine. You can keep playing phone tag with the Originals."

Caroline made a face. "You'll work on Katherine how?"

Damon wiggled his eyebrows at her and smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Spare us," Bonnie interrupted when she saw Caroline open her mouth to make another comment. She shot the blonde a chastising look before turning her attention back to Damon. "I tried to trace Klaus with magic, but he's basically untraceable."

"He's always got at least a few witches on his payroll," Damon said.

"Exactly," Bonnie agreed, "so any help from Katherine would be appreciated."

Damon smirked at the judgey little witch. "Can I quote you on that?"

Bonnie pursed her lips at him in displeasure before turning to Stefan. "Did you tell him about the earth marks?"

Stefan shook his head, "I told him a little, but I knew you'd be able to explain it better than I could. That's your area of expertise."

"Right," Bonnie took a deep breath and Damon prepared himself to listen to a long drawn-out lecture in witch history. "Back in the old days, and I mean really old like before most of the witch families had even migrated here from Europe, witches used earth marks as both a warning to stay away and a way to expose those they deemed guilty of a crime deserving punishment."

"Umm…" Caroline jumped up off of Tyler's knee before Bonnie could continue and started to fidget nervously. Her eyes danced from Stefan to Damon and then away. "I just remembered I promised my mom I'd run an errand for her this afternoon." She flashed them a mega-watt smile. "I've heard all this before and I know Bonnie's gonna be talking for a while, so I think I'll just pop out and do that now. It'll only take like fifteen minutes." Her smile held firmly in place she walked quickly toward the door. "You guys just keep talking. I promise I'll be right back."

Everyone watched her leave. Damon just shook his head and laughed softly. "I think it's safe to say, espionage is not Blondie's hidden talent."

Both Matt and Bonnie looked worried. Tyler chuckled good-naturedly and tossed Stefan a sympathetic look. "You better get ready."

Stefan winced but then pulled himself together and nodded toward Bonnie. "Let's keep this going. You were saying?"

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	4. Chapter Three: A new perspective

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: This chapter kicked my butt. It's very introspective and not a lot happens. It's certainly not my favorite kind of chapter to work on. I much prefer writing dialogue and moving the plot along, but it had to be written. I needed to dig into Elena and see what I could make of her. If she goes a little OOC then I apologize in advance, but we really have no idea what she'll be like as a vampire, so I'm running with that. I hope you enjoy.

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Chapter Three

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Today had been one of Elena's better days, one of the days she didn't mind forcing herself out of bed and facing the world. She attended her college lit class. She even showed up on time. She paid attention to what the professor was saying and didn't fantasize about snapping his annoying neck just to make him shut up. She smiled and nodded when the girl sitting next to her said hello. She didn't attack anyone and she didn't even reach to flip the switch. If she had felt herself zone out a few times and disconnect from reality, no one seemed to notice the difference and Elena could live with that. Elena Gilbert's vampire existence had become a juggling act of bad and better days. This was a better day.

Elena smiled and tried to mean it as she lifted the mug of blood to her lips. She kept a careful leash on the demon within her as the sweet nectar slid over her tongue. She would not allow her fangs to descend. She would not lose control. She would sit on her bed, in her favorite shirt, and she would drink her dinner. The blood in the mug would be enough. It wasn't quite sweet enough and it didn't pump so delightfully toward her with the hypnotizing beat of a living heart, but it was enough. At least it wasn't Bambi. Thinking back to her failed attempt at becoming a critter killer always made the bagged blood taste sweeter. A slightly bitter smile curved Elena's lips. No animals were harmed during the filling of this mug.

Elena closed her eyes and continued to sip as she thought back over the beginning of her undead life. To say she handled the change badly would be an understatement. Everything happened so fast. She'd accepted her death, been ready to go, and then she'd woken up on that cold hard slab in the morgue. Stefan was standing over her in tears, so devastated, so sorry. She couldn't stop herself from trying to comfort him even as she struggled with an irrational anger that she was still there, that she hadn't moved on.

When Matt's truck went off the bridge Elena hadn't wanted to die. Admittedly, she'd been more concerned with saving Matt than herself, but she hadn't actually wanted to die. Then she'd seen her father, she'd watched Stefan pull Matt free, and everything had gotten so hazy. Elena had accepted that this was the end. It even made sense in a sad sort of way that the waters beneath Wickery Bridge would be her fate.

She'd woken back up to a whole new world she never wanted. Elena hadn't been able to focus on that in the morgue. She'd immediately been thrust into comforting her still somewhat emotionally unstable boyfriend. Stefan carried so many burdens on his shoulders. He willingly carried the blame for every life he'd ever taken. She couldn't allow him to carry hers as well. It had been her choice. Maybe in hindsight she'd been stunned that he would actually let her choose to die, but it was still her burden to bear. Stefan had just found his way back and Elena knew the guilt from her death would push him beyond repair.

When the doors to the morgue flew open, Elena knew they had a much more pressing concern. Damon was going to kill Stefan. She could read it on his face. Damon wasn't looking at his brother. He was looking at her killer. She'd thrown herself between them on instinct. To this day, Elena couldn't even remember the exact words that had come gushing out of her mouth at that moment, just that she'd been desperate to make him blame her and not Stefan. It was her choice. She knew she'd told him that. Stefan was only respecting her wishes. She loved Stefan.

Whatever the rest of her outburst had been, it had done the trick. Elena had forced herself to watch as the anger bled away to be replaced with betrayal and desperate pain. When she couldn't take it anymore she allowed Stefan to pull her back into his arms. He'd thanked her for her forgiveness, showered her with his comfort and love, and as the swirling storm of confusion inside her churned away, Elena had let him. Her head had been spinning, she couldn't breathe, and she'd so desperately needed something to hold onto. She'd held on to Stefan.

Elena knew she'd been debating transition when Damon barked out his final stream of obscenities and stormed his way back out of the morgue. It all seemed so selfish and petty now. Had she really expected them both to stand happily by and listen to her contemplate dying again? The brothers reacted true to form. Stefan tried to be supportive despite the desperate fear and pain in his eyes and Damon exploded into anger. Elena didn't blame the elder brother for his reaction. He'd done so much for her, fought so hard to save her and keep her whole. Her words must have seemed the ultimate slap in the face.

The hours that followed were hazy and confusing. Once Stefan had delivered her safely to her house, it seemed like everyone wanted to visit and weigh in on her decision. Elena had raged, she'd sobbed, she'd weighed every pro and con to the vampire lifestyle. It hadn't escaped her notice that Damon never showed up to make his plea, but then she'd assumed he needed time to deal with his anger. Besides, Damon's vote was never really in question. In her mind, Elena had already placed his mark in the pro category.

Elena ground her teeth together and heard the ceramic handle of the mug she was holding creak in distress. She forced her fingers to loosen and lifted the mug for another sip. She would not lose control. She'd already broken one mug this week and they really couldn't afford to lose another. Jeremy had taken to hiding his in his room. Besides, she was wearing her favorite shirt and she did not want to get blood on it.

It was just so difficult to remember how fucking stupid and petty she'd been. The joys of hindsight again. Elena knew there had never really been a choice to make. She might not have been happy about waking up on that slab, but she'd known from the moment her eyes snapped open and she realized she was in transition that she would be a vampire. Leaving Jeremy and what was left of her unconventional family of loved ones to suffer and mourn for her? Not even she was that selfish. No, Elena had known at her core there was no choice, but it sure hadn't stopped her throwing herself a fucking pity-party, had it?

And then the change, the crazed bloodlust, uncontrollable wave after wave of emotion rolling over her, consuming her, and tearing her apart. She'd clutched desperately at the pieces of herself, trying to put them back together, but nothing seemed to fit. All the lies Elena used to feed herself to make it through day by day unraveled in her hands. She was NOT okay. She'd never been okay. She was a broken jagged bleeding mess, a grotesque mass of gaping wounds inflicted by trauma after trauma as her world fell down.

And still she'd tried. She'd plastered a smile on her face and told Stefan and Jeremy that she was okay. She'd reassured them that nothing had really changed, she was still their Elena. She would not let this destroy her.

When they finally broke the news that Damon was gone, Elena felt the shaky ground beneath her feet give way and the darkness swallowed her whole. She couldn't explain it, she couldn't justify it, it simply was. No matter her choice, Elena had not been prepared to exist, especially in this new and horrifying way, without Damon. He was the rock at the center of her foundation that she never realized was holding her grounded in place.

Elena stood from her bed and walked over to examine herself in the mirror above her dresser. A rueful smile curved her lips. She had, as Caroline would say, lost her shit. Leaning closer Elena reached within and pulled the monster out. Blood filled her eyes as black veins slithered beneath the skin around them and her canines descended. This was the new face of Elena Gilbert, the face of a monster, and it wasn't just for show. Let he without sin cast the first stone? Well, Elena wouldn't be throwing any stones anytime soon.

A knock sounded from her bedroom door and Elena jumped and turned toward the sound. She'd lost herself inside her mind again. She hadn't even heard anyone approach. It was a weakness she fought daily to overcome. She couldn't afford to be off her guard. "Yes?" she asked.

"Elena, we need to talk," Caroline's perky voiced filled the air. "Can I come in?"

Once upon a time, Caroline would have barged right in without asking. These days her blonde best friend treaded more carefully. Elena the vampire had a much shorter fuse and they never knew exactly what would set her off. In a heart-to-heart slash intervention with both Bonnie and Caroline a few months after the change, they had diagnosed her as clinically depressed. All Elena knew was that her mood could fluctuate rapidly from dead calm, to utter despair or uncontrollable rage at the smallest of triggers. On her bad days it seemed like the calm periods were simply pauses for breath between outbursts.

In theory, Elena had already suffered from the illness as a human, but going through the change and the magnification of her emotions due to vampirism had stripped away her ability to hide her symptoms. The diagnosis was actually a relief. Once they had some idea of what was going on, Elena and her friends had set about creating a plan to work her through it. Unfortunately normal anti-depressants had no effect on vampires, so they had focused on mental techniques and behavioral patterns to give her back some level of control. Solitude, taking her time, and thinking things through very carefully had become Elena's way of life. It hadn't been easy, but slowly over the following months they'd begun making progress. The girls all knew that clinical depression could last for months or even years, but they were determined Elena would get through this.

"Elena?"

Elena blinked and forced her face to shift back to human. "Give me just a minute, Care. I'm not dressed." She quickly stripped off her favorite shirt and threw it into the closet, grabbing a purple V-neck with long sleeves off a hanger before closing the door. She pulled the shirt over her head and reached down to grab a pair of jeans she'd discarded earlier beside the bed. Yanking them on as well, she sped to the door and pulled it open. "Hey, what's up?"

Caroline was smiling but it didn't reach her eyes. "Can we talk? It's…important."

Elena nodded, "of course, but Jeremy…"

"I sent him on to the boarding house," Caroline interrupted. "I'll drive you over after we talk."

Elena frowned. She hadn't even heard Jeremy leave. Then she felt her stomach jump as she realized how serious this must be for Caroline to send Jeremy away. "What's going on?"

Caroline continued to smile brightly. "Let's go sit down." She walked past Elena and over to sit on the bed.

Elena hesitantly followed her. "Caroline, you're freaking me out."

Caroline nodded and threw up her hands. "I know. I know, I am, but I don't really know how to say this and I'm kinda freaking out myself here." She finally frowned and bit her lip. "Stefan wants to wait until you get there and deal with it, but Stefan lives in fantasy land where you're just struggling with a little dose of newborn rage." She turned to face Elena on the bed. "You do know your boyfriend is the king of denial, right?"

Elena smiled sadly. Stefan also had not handled her change all that well. He wanted her to be okay so badly that he refused to see anything different. Newborn rage was his favorite excuse for her many and varied indiscretions. "I'm aware."

"Well, Bonnie and I know you need some warning before just throwing crap at you so here I am," she smiled again nervously.

When she didn't move to speak again, Elena sighed. "This is the part where you have to give me the warning, Care."

Caroline grimaced, "I know, I know." She hopped to her feet and started to pace back and forth in front of Elena. "But first you have to promise me you're not going to break the house. Jeremy needs a place to live."

"I promise."

Caroline whipped her blonde head around and her eyes narrowed. She put her hands on her hips. "That was too quick. You didn't think it over seriously enough."

"Caroline!"

"Fine, okay!" She sat back down next to Elena and took the brunette's hands in hers. "You know we're all freaking out about the stake going missing."

"I know."

"And then there's the whole mess about Bonnie's ground marks," Caroline continued.

"Earth marks," Elena corrected.

"SO not the point," Caroline muttered, "but fine, Bonnie's earth marks."

"I know."

"Well, we really need all the help we can get, Elena," Caroline told her. "That stake is bad mojo and if Esther has her way and takes out Klaus…"

"Caroline, I know this," Elena was trying not to get frustrated as Caroline drew the explanation out. "I know I still have my issues, but my head isn't completely buried in the sand. I know what's going on. I know we're in trouble." She met Caroline's eyes seriously. "Cut the bullshit and spit it out."

Caroline winced and closed her eyes. "Damon's back to help and he brought Katherine with him."

Elena's world froze. She instinctively tried to pull her hands away from Caroline, but her best friend held on tightly. When she didn't hear an explosion, Caroline peaked her eyes open. "Are you okay?"

Elena blinked. "I don't know."

"But Elena…"

"I don't know, Care!" Elena jerked free and jumped to her feet. She sped to the dresser and stared hard at her reflection in the mirror. She willed away the monster, shoved it deep into its cage. "I can't even…" she spun back to look at Caroline again, "he's back?"

"With Katherine," Caroline confirmed.

Elena took a deep breath and clamped her eyes shut against the tears she could feel building. "Damon's really back?"

"With Katherine," Caroline reiterated.

"I don't care!" Elena forced out. She took a shaky step toward her best friend. "I don't care if he came back to father his love child with Rebekah, Caroline." She reached up to wipe at her watery eyes. "None of that matters anymore. I just don't care. All that matters is that Damon's back." When Caroline opened her mouth to speak again, Elena rolled her eyes and huffed. "And yes, I heard you say with Katherine."

Caroline shrugged and laughed despite herself. "Well, you took it better than I thought you would."

Elena smiled weakly back at her. "I didn't break the house?"

Caroline nodded and the two laughed together. Then Caroline's expression grew serious again. "I didn't hang around long enough to figure out the specifics, Elena, but from Stefan's reaction I think they might be involved."

Shrugging, Elena looked at the floor. "He doesn't owe me anything, Care. I'm still technically involved with his brother." She grimaced. "And after the way I behaved back then? The things I said and did? Katherine's got nothing on me."

Now Caroline rolled her eyes and snorted as she climbed to her feet. She stepped forward and pulled Elena into a hug. "Let's not get too crazy with the remorse here, Lena. We are talking about Katherine."

Elena smiled and hugged Caroline back tightly. Then she remembered something and pulled back to stare at the bubbly blonde in disbelief. "Stefan didn't want to warn me? He just wanted me to show up and find them there?"

Caroline tilted her head to the side. "King of denial."

Elena shook her head, "seriously?"

"That's what I said," Caroline agreed.

The brunette vampire continued to mutter under her breath as she moved around her room grabbing socks, shoes, and her purse. "Sometimes I worry about Stefan. I mean, I know he hasn't actually seen me break anything in a while, but does he listen at all when we talk?" She yanked on the shoes and socks and pulled her compact out of her purse to check her face. The tears were gone, thankfully. She snapped it closed. "How could he think that was going to end well?"

Caroline giggled. "Apparently you have much better control over your emotions these days."

"Tell that to the coffee mugs." Finished checking her appearance, Elena walked toward her bedroom door. She had just reached it when she gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh god, I hope he hasn't found his room yet. I have to clean that up and Stefan said he'd help me replace some things."

Following behind her, Caroline made a face. "Yea, I meant to tell you about that…"

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	5. Chapter Four: Here comes trouble

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Been busy hanging with my family and doing Fathers' Day stuff so I'm a little late getting this out. Sorry. I also haven't gotten a chance to reply to my reviews yet, but I will. I wanted to get this posted and not make you wait any longer. Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter Four

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Damon was pouring himself another drink with his back to the room when he felt a shift in the air that told him someone new had arrived. "Damon," he heard his name whispered with affection. He scoffed in disgust and threw back the bourbon in one gulp before reaching for more. At this rate, he might need to text Katherine to pick some up while she was out. He felt the new arrival hesitate and then start to step toward him. Damon glared hard at the wall in front of him. "Bitch, please! I should have let Ric stake your ass when I had the chance."

Rebekah huffed but didn't come any closer. "I was grieving, Damon. I thought my brother was dead."

"And as much I know you adore good ole Satan, somehow I still don't give a fuck," Damon said. Finally turning back to the room, he sneered at the blonde as he walked to retake his seat. "Who invited her?"

Stefan frowned. "You told me…"

"I told you to have her contact Klaus, Steffy," Damon growled, "I didn't say to invite Backstabbing Barbie to the party."

"She's being targeted too, Damon," Stefan argued.

Damon smirked. "Guess they can't be all bad."

Bonnie rolled her eyes from her spot on the couch, "Never thought I'd agree with Damon."

"Can we just not?" Stefan sighed frustrated. Damon watched as he reached up to rub at his eyes. "We have enough to deal with right now without infighting."

Rebekah smiled sarcastically at Damon, but he could see the vulnerability always hiding in her eyes. "Then why did you invite Damon?"

"Bitch stole my line," Damon shot back. He just lifted one brow and met her stare. Rebekah's eyes twinkled with affection and Damon internally groaned. She was such a fucking head case.

Stefan cleared his throat and stepped forward, "Rebekah thank you for coming." He welcomed the blonde and offered her a chair and something to drink. She shot Damon a sly glance as she sat down adjacent to him and asked for his best bourbon.

Damon ground his teeth and resisted the urge to throw back the rest of the liquor in his tumbler. He didn't actually want to be drunk for this little reunion. Being drunk removed what little filter he had on his smart mouth and no matter how emotionally pathetic Bex was the bitch could still snap his spine with her perfectly manicured pinky.

"So," Baby Gilbert had arrived at least half an hour before. Now he was propped on the arm of the couch next to Bonnie. He spoke up to break the awkward silence, "where've you been for the last year, Damon?"

"Around," Damon answered, "why do you care?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I'm just curious. Ric said he's been proud of you…"

Damon heard the crystal in his hand crack as he shot to his feet. "Do NOT talk to me about Ric." He walked stiffly back toward the sidebar and reached for the correct decanter. Fuck sober. He filled his tumbler to the rim and gulped it down. Then he sat it to the side. He'd throw it away later. He reached for a new tumbler and poured in another two fingers.

Damon heard rustling and footsteps behind him. He turned to find Jeremy standing a few feet away. "I'm sorry."

Jeremy was looking at him with those big sincere Gilbert eyes and Damon felt his anger bleed away. Damn Elena for teaching him that look. Not trusting himself to speak, Damon nodded his forgiveness to the boy and walked around him back to his chair. "We hopped around for a while. The last few months we've been in Alabama."

"You and Katherine?" Jeremy looked concerned with his choice of company. Damon felt like he'd stepped into the Twilight Zone. Since when did Baby Gilbert give a fuck about him?

"Katherine's not that bad."

"You have met her, right?"

"She grows on you," Damon smirked.

"Like fungus?" Bonnie jumped in.

"She's…family," he finally decided. Damon didn't know how else to describe their relationship. Katherine was his sire. She knew him inside and out, the good and the bad and she loved him anyway. And Damon knew her and loved her. They were family. They were each other's home. "Look, Katherine isn't going anywhere. You don't have to like her. Hell, you don't like me. But she's family so you're just going to have to put up with her. We're a package deal."

"I can respect that," Rebekah spoke up with a smile.

Damon made a face. "You would."

Lockwood laughed from his position on the couch. Bonnie groaned and reached up to rub her hands over her face. "Well, she beats Klaus, I'll give you that."

"I just hope she doesn't give Elena a hard time," Stefan said, "she's doing so much better now, but I know she's still fragile."

Was he serious? Damon scoffed. "She's a vampire, Stefan. She stopped being fragile the day you let her die."

Stefan ground his teeth at the unneeded reminder. "Katherine's always brought out Elena's insecurity, Damon. Being like Katherine is Elena's worst nightmare and you know it."

Damon shrugged. His opinion on that subject had changed substantially over the last year. "More fool her."

"Elena Gilbert is not fragile," Rebekah's voice was colored with disbelief. "She wasn't fragile as a human. Now? She's a vicious bitch."

Damon's eyebrows shot up at her vehemence. Jeremy laughed, but his eyes glowed with reluctant pride in his vampire sister. "They've had a few run-ins."

"She staked me at senior prom," Rebekah growled.

"Right before they announced prom queen," Matt said. "Not that it mattered. Caroline won anyway."

"I was supposed to be up on stage."

Bonnie glared at the Original Bitch. "Elena was supposed to be human."

"Did someone stake Stefan?" Damon muttered. Before baby brother could react to that comment, Damon cleared his throat and pushed to his feet. "Anyway, I'm going to go grab dinner while we wait for Blondie to drag her ass back here with Steffy's undead beloved."

Bonnie jumped to her feet agitated. "You're not…I mean…" she paused and took a breath before meeting Damon's annoyed gaze. "You can't kill anyone, Damon. I'm not going to let you come back here and start killing people again."

Damon's eyes flashed with temper and he vaguely heard Baby Gilbert groan from beside him. Tilting his head to the side, a cruel smile curved his lips. "I meant from the basement, you stupid judgey little bitch, but just for you? I might make an exception." Before he could give in to the urge to snap her fucking neck, Damon turned on his heel and sped away.

Unfortunately, his vampire hearing was completely intact and Damon could still easily hear them speaking from the basement. "He doesn't kill to feed, Bonnie," Jeremy was scolding the witch, "Ric told me that. He rarely even feeds from the source at all. What were you thinking? He knows he can't come back here and start eating people."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Bonnie said defensively. "He's Damon, and he hasn't had Elena to keep him on a leash for the last year."

Gritting his teeth, Damon reached into the refrigerator and pulled out two bags of his favorite type. He told himself that killing the witch would be counterproductive. They needed her. If he was going to make them put up with Katherine, then he could put up with Judgey.

"If anyone needs a leash around here, it's your precious doppelvamp," Rebekah drawled, "how many slips has she had so far? That bitch needs a muzzle."

"Stay out of this, Rebekah," Jeremy growled. "Bonnie, saying that to Damon was just stupid. Do you want him to snap and kill someone? Will it give you some sick sense of satisfaction?"

"HE LEFT US!" Bonnie snapped. "HE LEFT ELENA! We needed him, Elena needed him, and he just walked away! I finally started to doubt my opinion of Damon. I thought I could actually see a little of what Elena valued in him, and then he had to go and prove me right all long. He didn't get the girl so he just walked away and didn't give a damn about the shitfest he was leaving for us to clean up without him. So excuse me, if I thought he might have reverted to form."

"He was devastated, Bonnie!" Jeremy said.

Damon groaned and tried unsuccessfully to tune them out. Baby Gilbert was defending him, not to mention airing his emotional trauma to the room at large. Damon could just bet he had Ric to thank for this change of heart.

"He can join the club, Jeremy! We all…"

"I MADE HIM LEAVE!" Stefan yelled. That announcement was followed by stunned silence. Damon winced. This wasn't going to be pretty. "We had a deal, okay? Damon and I made a deal before Elena made her choice. Whoever she didn't choose agreed to leave town and give the other two some space." He paused. "I came up with the deal. It was my idea and Damon didn't even really want to agree to it, but he did. I didn't enforce the deal after Elena died, I didn't tell him to leave, but I didn't tell him the deal was off either."

Bonnie cleared her throat, "so you're saying…"

"I'm saying Damon kept up his end of the deal. I made Damon leave."

Rebekah's laugh echoed loudly through the house. "That is just priceless!"

"WHAT?" Everyone took in a deep breath as the new voice sounded out. Damon prayed it was Katherine, but realistically he knew he wasn't that lucky.

"Oh dear," Rebekah drawled. "Has Stefan been a naughty boy?"

"Oh shit," Lockwood said, "here we go."

"DAMON HELP!" Jeremy called.

What followed were obvious sounds of a struggle. Damon threw his empty bloodbags into the trashcan by the refrigerator and sped up the stairs and back to the main floor of the boarding house. When he entered the parlor he was momentarily frozen as he took in the scene. Rebekah was still sitting primly in her chair but everyone else was in action. Stefan was on his knees beside the fireplace trying to sooth his girlfriend while avoiding the swipes of her clawed hands toward his face. Jeremy and Tyler were trying unsuccessfully to pull the brunette banshee away from Saint Stefan. Bonnie had Donovan wedged protectively into a corner and Caroline was on her knees beside Elena trying to reason with her best friend.

Rolling his eyes in disgust, Damon stalked forward toward the five idiots grappling on the floor. He reached into an inside pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a vervain dart. Flicking the cover off the tip, Damon plunged it straight into Elena's exposed neck. The brunette jerked upright and howled in pain before slumping forward unconscious onto her battered soulmate.

Stefan cradled his girlfriend's body against him and glared at Damon in disbelief. "Was that really necessarily?"

"You're welcome," Damon said.

He turned and held out a hand to pull Caroline to her feet. Blondie accepted and then reached down to dust off her clothes. She winced at the irritated expression on her sire's face. "Well, I'm back. Elena called me while I was out and asked for a ride."

He lifted one brow. "Do you actually believe anyone buys that?"

"That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Tyler moved forward to pull his girlfriend against him and nuzzle his face into her neck. "It's not her fault Stefan decided to confess his sins right when they got here."

But Damon didn't want to think about Stefan. He didn't want to look at his brother and he certainly didn't want to look at the brunette in Steffy's arms. Over a year and still not nearly long enough, Damon turned and headed back toward the thankfully undisturbed sidebar. He definitely needed to text Katherine to hit the liquor store. Going through the familiar motions of fixing yet another drink, Damon mumbled his new motto under his breath. "Find the stake and get the fuck out, just find that damn stake and then get the fuck out."

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Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	6. Chapter Five: Turn the light on

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Thanks for all your reviews guys! You really keep me going. I didn't get as far as I hoped with this chapter, but I did make some progress. The next chapter looks like it is going to be pretty intense. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Five

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She came to slowly and everything hurt. She groaned and reached up to rub her throbbing neck. Then her last memories came flooding back to her and she groaned for an entirely different reason. Had she really attacked Stefan in front of everybody? Oh god, she winced in misery as flashes played out before her closed eyes.

"I'm sorry."

The sound of Stefan's voice so close by made Elena jerk. Suddenly it was as though her senses snapped back into focus. She could smell his familiar scent. She could hear the clock ticking on the bedside table. She could taste the slightly dusty air and smell faint traces of scented candle wax. She knew before she ever opened her eyes she was lying on Stefan's bed in his room. It had been longer than she cared to examine since she'd found herself there, but she still remembered.

When Elena moved to sit up she could hear the muffled sounds of lowered voices from what she assumed was the parlor. She bit back another groan and shook her head. "Apparently it isn't possible to die of embarrassment because I'm still here."

"I'm sorry," Stefan repeated himself as he reached forward to hand her a mug of warm blood as a peace offering. "I should have told you, Elena. I have no excuse." His face was drawn into a brooding expression so familiar, so very Stefan, that Elena didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

She took the mug instead and sipped the blood slowly. She settled into her routine and worked to control the monster. She let her mind process the new information as she drank. When the mug was empty she placed it safely on the bedside table before speaking. "I shouldn't have attacked you like a crazy person. I'm sorry about that."

Stefan shook his head. "I understand, Elena. I know you're still struggling with…"

"So help me god if you say the words newborn rage, Stefan, I will throw something at your head," Elena growled. "I'm clinically depressed, damn it. Deal with it."

Stefan lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"I know you don't get it, but it's real and I'm working on it," she told him as calmly as she could manage. Then she shook her head. "But that's just one issue on our list, Stefan. We have so many issues at the moment I don't even know where to start."

"Elena…"

"I could start with this stupid ass deal you and your brother apparently made behind my back, but then I might start breaking stuff again," Elena's eyes darkened as she glared at him. "So I'm going to let that one lie for a while."

Guilt shadowed Stefan's face and he looked down. "I should have told you..."

"Letting it lie!" Elena cut him off. She felt herself tense even thinking about it, but then winced in pain and reached for her neck again. "And what kind of mutant bumblebee stung me?"

Stefan made a face. "Damon stuck you with vervain dart, Elena."

Wow, so that was what a large dose of vervain felt like. Elena took her daily dose of vervain just like the rest of the group. She couldn't afford to be susceptible to compulsion with Originals still running around. She knew vervain stung. It felt like drinking acid, but she'd never gotten a real dose before. Frankly it sucked and her neck was still killing her. "Note to self: control temper." She ignored the muffled laughter she heard from the other room.

"Damon was out of line," Stefan said.

"So was I," Elena reminded him. "He got the job done. Isn't that why you called him back?"

The last year had given Elena plenty of time to look back and evaluate the way they all treated Damon. She was more than a little ashamed at what she'd found. Damon was right. They'd used him to be their bad guy. They'd counted on him to make the hard decisions, to get his hands dirty while they stood back in judgment and reaped the benefits of his actions. Elena couldn't change the past and she couldn't change her friends' opinions, but she was done throwing stones out of her glass house.

Stefan didn't like her defending his brother. Elena didn't care. She wasn't going to pretend to be outraged just to make him feel better. They'd spent too much time pretending. It was time to deal with their reality.

"Now, Stefan, how about you explain to me why you didn't think I needed some warning that your brother was back in town?" She reached over and picked back up the empty coffee mug. "And remember what I said about newborn rage."

* * *

Damon's lips curled in disgust as he listened to his baby brother and Elena argue in Stefan's room one floor up.

"They're probably going to be at it for a while," Caroline noted. Damon turned to find the bubbly blonde beside him. She tossed him a quick grin before reaching around him for an empty tumbler and helping herself to the vodka. "This fight's been coming for months."

Damon's eyebrows shot up. "I only got back today."

Caroline snorted. "This isn't about you. Stefan's denial has gotten completely out of hand." She took a drink and shrugged. "Hiding your deal was just the icing."

Damon turned and leaned back against the sidebar. He cocked his head to the side and met Blondie's eyes. "She's really depressed?"

Caroline tucked a blonde curl behind her ear and nodded. "You don't know the half of it. And we're not talking about mopey 'oh woe is me' depressed either. This is a whole different animal. From the information we've found, it's a chemical imbalance in the brain. In humans it's manageable, but Elena's a vampire and you know what our emotions are like. We're talking from numb calm to fits of homicidal rage from one second to the next."

"Fun," Damon mused, then something occurred to him and his eyes narrowed on Caroline. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you can handle it," Caroline said bluntly. "And you won't let Elena get away with her bullshit. She needs that. Stefan's completely incapable of handling her now."

Damon took a drink from the tumbler in his hand and shook his head. "They'll work it out. You know that. They always do."

"Always is a long time for a vampire."

Damon stared at the blonde in disbelief. "I didn't come back for this shit. I'm back to find the stake and then I'm leaving."

Caroline smirked. "You keep telling yourself that."

Stepping forward, Damon turned to face the wall and shook his head again. "No, she'll forgive him. They'll get past this."

"Stefan lives his whole life pretending to be human, Damon, and Elena can't," Caroline said. "I don't know how you get past that."

Damon turned his head and glared her. "What happened to your epic love t-shirt, Blondie?"

Caroline just returned his glare. "It drowned under Wickery Bridge."

* * *

Elena left Stefan in his room and headed for the parlor. They'd argued for a solid hour and had still barely scratched the surface. It was such a fucking mess. Stefan wasn't the only one to blame. Elena had been forced to admit her own role in pretending she was okay. She'd allowed Stefan to keep her up on that pedestal and now she had to own it. She'd let Stefan coddle her and protect her when she should have been standing on her own feet and accepting responsibility for her actions. It had been easier to just play along. Now look where it had gotten them, right back to secrets and lies.

They'd finally called it a night and agreed to dig deeper in private the next day. Neither one of them wanted to have unwitting witnesses to what was going to turn very ugly. They'd gotten so good at hiding things from each other and themselves that the truth had become a monster ready to devour them. A part of Elena knew when they really turned on the light there would be no going back and her stomach twisted at the thought. Some things you couldn't come back from.

The crowd in the parlor had thinned in the three hours since Elena had arrived. Caroline and Bonnie were talking on the couch while Damon and Jeremy played cards.

Elena's breath caught in her throat and her knees wobbled. He was really here. It was everything she could do not to dive across the room and latch herself onto him. She devoured him with her new vampire eyes instead. He was so fucking beautiful. Messy raven hair, pale flawless skin, those smirking lips, and my god, those unbelievable eyes, how was she supposed to face him? How was she supposed to act normal when all she wanted to do was bury her head against his chest and sob?

She wasn't supposed to feel this way, she had no right to, but as Elena had learned countless times since she transitioned, her heart didn't give a damn what she was supposed to do anymore. Her heart was done playing nice.

"Elena?" Caroline was off the couch and in front of her before she could blink. "Are you okay?"

Elena laughed in disbelief. She was so far from okay. Tears blurred her vision and Elena quickly blinked them away. She had to see him.

Bonnie moved more slowly to join them. "Did everything go okay with Stefan?"

As she watched, Elena saw Damon pause and tilt his head slightly in their direction. She silently begged him to look at her. Please, she just wanted him to look at her.

Caroline made a face. "How do things usually go with Stefan these days?"

Bonnie frowned at the blonde. "Caroline!"

But Caroline ignored her. "Elena?" She lifted her hands to Elena's cheeks and turned her face until their eyes met. "Are you okay?"

Elena opened her mouth but couldn't find the words. Her eyes filmed over with tears again. She felt herself begin to shake.

Caroline nodded as though Elena had spoken to her anyway. "Alright then, I'll give Jeremy a ride home." She turned toward the fire. "Come on, Jeremy. I have a paper to write for World Religions."

Jeremy looked at her. "I can wait on Elena."

"You're turning down a ride from a hot blonde?" Caroline lips were smiling but her eyes demanded he comply with her.

Jeremy paused and looked briefly at the space behind Damon's shoulder. Then he sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "Fine, I'm coming."

Caroline turned to their other best friend. "Bonnie, you can walk out with us."

Bonnie frowned and shook her head. "I can…"

Jeremy sighed and linked his arm through Bonnie's as he reached her. He started dragging her toward the door. "Give it up, Bon. I know you're a super witch but some things are out of your control."

Bonnie looked back over her shoulder at Elena as Jeremy and Caroline nudged her out the door. "Call me if you need to talk."

Once the front door closed, Elena pulled herself together and moved with shaky steps to sit down on the couch. Damon was staring at the fireplace. Blinking back more tears, Elena cleared her throat. "Can you look at me please?"

Damon snorted. "Don't particularly have the desire."

"Damon…" her voice choked on the name. She bit her lip and took a deep breath before trying to speak again. "Please?"

Elena could see him grit his teeth before he turned stiffly and met her eyes. She could feel that look all the way to her toes. She forced a shaky smile onto her lips. "Welcome home."

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	7. Chapter Six: Behind Blue Eyes

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: I worked hard on this one. I really hope you guys like it. I could probably rewrite it over and over again for a few more days just tweaking stuff, but I had to stop before I drove myself completely crazy. Please let me know what you think.

* * *

Chapter Six

* * *

_Elena could see him grit his teeth before he turned stiffly and met her eyes. She could feel that look all the way to her toes. She forced a shaky smile onto her lips. "Welcome home."_

* * *

Looking at her physically hurt and Damon couldn't understand it. He spent every damn day with her exact double. It shouldn't be this hard just to look at her. Jerking his eyes away, he glared at the fire. "This is not my home."

"Of course it is," Elena's voice shook, but she spoke with conviction.

He grimaced in disgust. Nothing ever changed. Here she was doing the same song and dance. Next she'd be telling him how much she _cared_ about him. Well, this time he had no intention of falling for her bullshit. She could save her big doe eyes and sweet smile for baby brother. Damon Salvatore was done being love's bitch.

"He didn't make me leave," he finally told her. Now seemed like the opportune time to give her a nudge back toward her soulmate. "After that shit in the morgue, you couldn't have made me stick around with super glue. I had exactly two friends in this hellhole and both of them died that night. There was nothing left to keep me here."

"Damon…"

"So feel free to scamper on back to golden boy and forgive him. He came up with the deal, but no one makes me do something I don't want to. If I'd wanted to stay, I would have." He laughed bitterly and shook his head. "I'm pretty sure his granting your suicide wish rendered the deal null and void anyway."

He saw her wince out of the corner of his eye. "I can't regret that Matt lived, Damon. A lot of things went wrong that night, and there are so many that I would change if I could, but as hard as the last year's been, I can't regret Matt being alive."

Damon reached forward to pick up his tumbler of bourbon from the table and lifted it to his lips. "Oh, trust me, I remember."

"Both Matt and I are alive," Elena insisted. "That has to count for something!"

Damon slammed the glass back down on the table and glared at her. "You're not alive, Elena! You're a fucking vampire!"

Her eyes filled with tears. "You think I don't know that? I spend every day fighting the urge to rip out the throats of everyone who pisses me off, Damon. And EVERYONE pisses me off!" She curled her hands into fists and he could see she was shaking from head to toe. "I can't change the past. I couldn't go back and fix it even if I wanted to. I have to deal with now."

Damon leaned back into his chair and rolled his eyes, "how enlightened of you." He cocked his head to the side and smiled at her mockingly. "I truly wish you and Steffy all the best. Now that you've gotten this little bump out of the way, you can forgive him and the two of you can hop back onto your love boat and sail off into the sunset together."

Elena's face crumpled. She bit her lip. "Damon, I know I screwed up. I know I hurt you, but please don't be like this."

Groaning aloud, Damon tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Oh, let me guess how this next part goes. 'Damon you can be a better man. There is good in you, Damon. If you just turn yourself inside out and do exactly what I want you to and jump every time I say so, someday you could be almost as good as Stefan.'" He locked his eyes back on hers and smirked. "Sorry, I'll pass."

Elena sighed and closed her eyes. Two tears escaped to trail down her cheeks. "I deserve that. I know I do," she took a deep breath and forced herself to meet his hard gaze again, "but you're wrong. I don't want to change you, Damon, and I certainly don't want you to be Stefan. I like you the way you are and you already are a good man. You're a better man than we ever gave you credit for and I'm sorry it took losing you for me to see that."

Damon snorted. "Whatever. I'm over it." Pushing himself to his feet, he made his way back to the sidebar just for something to do. He needed some distance from her. He couldn't stand to keep sitting that close and looking at her. Those glistening big brown eyes still had a string tied around his heart and he fucking hated it. He might not be able to make himself stop loving her, but he'd be damned if he let her keep using it against him. He'd learned a thing or two about protecting himself from loving Katherine's selfish ass. Distance was his friend.

"Why…" Elena started, "why didn't you tell me you met me first, Damon?"

Damon froze and then realization hit. He mentally groaned. Of course the damn compulsion had worn off. Fabulous. Keeping his back to her, he shrugged. "It didn't matter." Honestly, of the two times he'd compelled her, discussing this one he could handle.

"Of course it did."

"Elena, I'm not an idiot," Damon told her. "You were trying to soften the blow, trying to make me feel better. Torturing myself and telling you about a meeting you couldn't even remember wouldn't have changed jack shit. You met Stefan and you fell for him instantly. No matter what you felt for me, you never unfell for him." His voice dripped sarcasm as he parroted her words back to her. "I figured getting rejected once while I waited to die was more than enough."

"Oh god," Elena lifted her hand to cover her mouth. She tried to fight back the storm of emotion churning inside her, but it was useless. Biting her palm, she wrapped her other arm around her waist and rocked back and forth.

Damon frowned as he heard her sniffle. He turned to face her in disbelief. "Stop that!" She was practically sobbing and Damon knew that was one thing he couldn't handle.

She blinked at him as more tears leaked from her eyes. "I'm so sorry I did that to you."

Gritting his teeth, Damon rolled his eyes. "I survived. Forget about it." Great, now he was comforting her about ripping his heart out.

"How can I even begin to make that up to you?" Elena wondered miserably. "I can't take it back. I can't fix it."

"Shit happens, Elena. I'm over it." Damon moved back to his chair. "Honestly, you did me a favor. You gave me the push I needed to get out of this town and on with my life."

"But I don't want you out of this town," Elena said. "You belong here with us, Damon."

"Oh hell the fuck no," an angry growl sounded from the doorway. Katherine came storming into the room and confronted her childe. "I don't think so, Damon. Tell me you're not actually listening to my whiny little doppelbitch? I will snap your damn neck and throw you in the trunk! Did you see your room?"

"Oh god, your room," Elena looked desperately at Damon, "I'm going to fix it. I promise."

"Fix it?" Katherine asked her in disbelief. "With what…a magic wand?"

A growl escaped Elena's throat as she jumped to her feet and faced off against her double. "Do you mind?"

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest and smirked, "Not often, but sometimes Damon likes to play alpha male and I do love to indulge him."

Damon sped between the identical brunettes before one of them could attack. He glared first at Katherine. "Behave." Then he looked to Elena. "I have another dart and I will use it. This house has lost enough furniture."

Katherine rolled her eyes and threw up her hands in mock surrender. "Oh no, not the furniture, this time we might trash something of Stefan's."

With effort, Elena ignored Katherine' dig and focused on Damon. "We were talking, Damon. We need to talk. Please?"

Katherine scoffed. Damon sighed and rolled his shoulders as reality set back in. "There's nothing more to say. You're really sorry you hurt poor pathetic lovesick, Damon. I get it."

"NO!" Elena growled as her eyes filled with tears again. She stepped forward and grabbed Damon's shirt in both hands and pulled. "This isn't over. I fucked up and I know it, but I'm not giving up on you." She looked up into those cold blue eyes and realized they weren't going to get anywhere else tonight. Katherine had taken care of that. She glared at the bitch. "You can't keep me away from him."

"Try me," Katherine purred.

Elena reluctantly let go of Damon and stepped back. She shook her head. "You may have a place in his life now, but you don't own him." And she clearly did have a place in his life now. Elena could see the affection buried underneath Damon's irritation at Katherine. Somehow Katherine had managed to work her way back into Damon's heart. It hurt Elena more than she expected to see that. She'd told herself she was prepared to deal with them, but knowing and seeing were two different things. The irony of the situation didn't escape her. She'd forced Damon to watch her with Stefan over and over again. She so deserved this.

Elena tried to meet Damon's eyes and make a connection but he'd already brought the walls back down. She tried to read something, anything in their icy depths. It was pointless. Accepting momentary defeat, she sighed. "I'm going home, but I'll talk to you more tomorrow."

"Can't wait," Katherine said.

Damon prayed for patience. He had two gorgeous women fighting over him and he couldn't even enjoy it because both of them had put his heart through a blender multiple times. He smiled stiffly at Elena. "Drive safe." Once she walked out the front door carrying her wounded expression with her, he turned back to Katherine.

She smiled innocently. "What?"

He cocked his head to the side. "You have to get your kicks taunting the baby vamp?"

She leaned forward against him and ran her nails slowly and seductively down his chest. "Well, if someone would just keep me otherwise occupied…"

He grabbed her hand to stop its descent. "I'm not that easy, Katherine."

She smirked. "Yes you are."

She had a point, but still. "If I wouldn't fuck you alone in another state, I'm not about to start under the same roof with Stefan. He's already crying in his room, I'd rather not put him on suicide watch."

Katherine paused briefly then rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to know." She drummed her fingers against his abdomen. "But back to the point, that is not just any baby vamp. That is my whiny little doppelbitch. We've been back less than twelve hours and she's already blubbering all over you. I'm not about to stand by and watch you backslide." She pinched him hard with her nails.

"I can handle Elena."

She cocked her head to the side. "You use to say that about me."

Damon laughed despite himself as he thought back to the earlier strategy session. "I still do."

She smiled back at him and opened her mouth to reply when Elena's panicked voice cut through the air.

"DAMON!"

He was out the door and at her side before she'd even finished his name. He looked her over, but didn't see any damage. Irritated with himself for jumping to the rescue, Damon frowned. "What?"

Elena pointed to her car and Damon finally noticed a strange symbol carved into the door. It had obviously been cut into the paint with something sharp, but it was traced over with blood. It looked like four straight lines slashed through a half moon. Elena shivered. "It's the same as the earth marks."

"I've seen them before," Katherine stepped forward to look closer and Damon realized both she and Stefan had joined them. "It's dark magic, blood magic, obviously. It's a symbol of witch justice. The symbol itself is powerful enough to draw disease into a human household. Won't do shit to us, but," she locked eyes with Damon, "it will broadcast a magical signature to any witch in the area."

"Human household?" Elena's expression turned stricken. "There's a mark outside my house! Jeremy!"

"Magically induced disease," Katherine told her irritated, "the ring will protect him."

"What about Matt?" Stefan wondered. "We haven't found a mark outside his house, but he spends a lot of time here and at Elena's."

Katherine shook her head. "It's based on ownership, not on proximity. It was their way of protecting innocent bystanders."

"Thoughtful of them," Damon reached forward to run his finger over the symbol. When he pulled it away it was coated in blood. "It's animal, not human."

Katherine smiled spitefully at Stefan. "You're the expert, Lover. Exactly what critter are we dealing with?"

Ignoring her, Damon turned back to Elena. "They targeted you, Elena. You need to stay here."

She was already shaking her head no. "They've targeted all of us. I'm going home. Jeremy's there alone and at least I can try to protect him if something happens."

"Damon's right, Elena," Stefan tried to reason with her. "You can get Jeremy and bring him back here with you."

"I'm going home, Stefan," Elena told him stubbornly. "I'm not going to let them control me. They've been pulling stunts like this for weeks." Stepping forward, she yanked open the door to the car and climbed in. "I'll call Bonnie and see if she wants to sleep over."

Stefan sighed and nodded. "Okay."

Katherine made a face. "God, you're pathetic."

Damon stood and silently watched as Elena cranked the car and pulled out. Then shaking his head at his own stupidity, he groaned and starting walking toward the road.

Katherine stared at him in disbelief. "Where the fuck are you going?" Damon ignored her and kept walking. She glared after him. "Tell me you're not going where I think you're going?" When he still refused to answer her, she threw up her hands in disbelief. "You have got to be fucking kidding me! You're BOTH pathetic!"

Damon smirked back at her over his shoulder. "Maybe but you're stuck with us anyway."

"I should have turned Anthony Fell!" With a huff, she spun toward the house. "And I'm drinking all the bourbon I just bought your stupid ass!"

"What's that matter, Katherine?" Stefan taunted her. "I thought you liked to share."

Her eyes flashed fire as she spun back to face him. "Go suck a bunny."

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	8. Chapter Seven: Surfacing

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Sorry guys, I had a rough week at work and couldn't find much time to write. I didn't want to write some short crap chapter so I made myself wait until I had something I could live with. Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think.

* * *

Chapter Seven

* * *

What the fuck was he doing? Damon had asked himself that question about a hundred times since he'd left the boarding house. It didn't make a damn bit of difference. Here he was sitting in a damn tree outside Elena's house on guard duty again.

The girl had more spit than brains. She was so damn stubborn. She'd deserve nothing more if he left her to defend herself. Of course she couldn't just pack up baby brother and come stay at the boarding house like a good little girl. Fuck no! She didn't know how to mind as a human, what had made him believe getting turned would change anything? Elena Gilbert only ever did exactly what Elena Gilbert wanted to do and he was sick and tired of dancing to her tune.

And for that matter, where the fuck was Stefan? Why wasn't Prince Charming out here freezing his ass off to protect his fair princess? Wasn't he the Lancelot to her Guinevere, the Romeo to her Juliet? Stefan could totally make this tree thing work for him.

Damon smirked as he pictured Saint Steffy in the same tree wearing a brightly colored tunic and leggings and quoting love sonnets with dramatic arm gestures. Then Elena would sigh and lean out her bedroom window to moon over him with big lovestruck cow eyes. Stefan had all those Cullen-esque qualities required to pull the romantic stalker thing off. Damon, however, was a little too dark and sinister. He'd be lucky if someone didn't see him and call him in as a peeping tom. Liz Forbes would love that one. She'd probably throw his ass in a cell just for kicks.

"Now we have to make sure the lines meet."

Damon looked down as Bonnie and Elena came walking around the side of the house. Both girls had large cylinders of salt in their hands. Bonnie was carefully pouring salt from hers on the ground in as even a line as she could manage.

"And this will protect us from the curse?" Elena sounded doubtful.

Bonnie nodded and kept pouring. "A circle of salt is binding where witchcraft's concerned. Salt in itself is a magic inhibitor. By creating a closed circle around your house, the curse won't be able to penetrate it. It won't stop anyone from crossing the circle physically, but it will protect you and Jeremy from the earth marks."

Elena reached forward to pull her best friend into a hug. "Thank you, Bonnie, that make me feel so much better. I know Katherine said the ring will protect Jeremy from the curse's effects, but I don't want to take any chances."

Bonnie embraced her friend before pulling back and taking Elena's hands into her own. "I'm not taking any chances with Jeremy or you Elena. This is my town and I'm not about to stand back and let some outsiders, witches or not, come in and threaten it."

Damon bit back a groan of disgust that would surely have given away his location. Oh how he hated Judgey and her self-righteous party line of bullshit.

"I know you won't," Elena smiled at the witch and her eyes twinkled, "and hey, now I have enhanced senses so nothing can sneak up on us in the dark."

Damon just shook his head. And she actually believed that shit. God bless the baby vamps.

* * *

Elena held the door open and waited for Bonnie to walk through. They'd circled the house three times with salt just to make sure they didn't miss anything. Elena didn't know how they would explain the dead grass to the neighbors later, but better safe than sorry. Once Bonnie walked passed her and into the house, Elena closed the door and turned the locks. When she turned around she found her friend staring at her concerned.

"Now that that's done," Bonnie said, "how are you?"

Shrugging Elena headed into the kitchen. "I'm fine. Apparently the curse doesn't affect vampires."

"Elena," Bonnie chided her, "I'm not talking about the curse and you know it." She walked forward to face Elena across the island. "I know you and Stefan had a fight about Damon, and I know you aren't unaffected by his coming back to town. Add Katherine into the mix and…"

"I'm not talking to you about this, Bonnie," Elena interrupted her sharply. The witch's expression showed hurt at her tone, but Elena didn't back down. "I'm sorry, but you've never been able to stay objective where Damon's concerned and I'm not up to hearing you bash him right now."

Bonnie frowned. "I wouldn't say I bash him. I'm just usually the only voice of reason around here where he's concerned. Someone has to point out the truth about him."

"The only?" Elena's eyes widened in disbelief. "You think you're the only one around here constantly pointing out all of Damon's flaws and past transgressions? Name one person who doesn't. Even I use to carry around my own personally little soap box with his name on it."

Bonnie lifted her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Maybe there's a reason for that."

Gritting her teeth, Elena spun away from her friend and faced the refrigerator. As she pulled out a bag of blood she tried to reign in her temper. Bonnie might be a witch, but she was mortal. Elena couldn't afford to lose control with her. Added to that, Bonnie had explained that by binding the circle outside the house she was seriously limiting her magical ability within it. At the moment, Bonnie was just a glorified human and Elena was a bomb waiting to go off.

Elena took deep calming breaths and reached up to open the cabinet and grab herself a mug. She fought to block out the sweet smell of Bonnie's blood pumping only a few feet away from her. The heightened emotion in the air made it so much sweeter and so much harder to resist. Pushing the thought away, Elena fiddled with the tubing and started squeezing the bagged blood into her mug.

"Elena, I'm just trying to be your friend," Bonnie sighed, "and sometimes friends have to tell us things we don't want to hear."

Punching the door latch on the microwave a little harder than necessary, Elena placed her mug inside and set the timer. She couldn't and wouldn't allow herself to turn and face Bonnie again. "I know the two of you hate each other, Bonnie. I understand that. You've both done some pretty crappy things to each other in the past, but…"

"We've both?" She could hear the outrage in Bonnie's voice. "What do you mean both?"

Giving up, Elena spun to face the witch. She leaned forward over the island and met her friend's glare. "You tried to kill him, Bonnie…multiple times."

"He tried to kill me!"

Elena rolled her eyes. "I said you've BOTH done some pretty crappy things to each other. I never said Damon was blameless."

Shaking her head, Bonnie argued with her. "He's evil, Elena. He only ever behaved because of you. He thought if he could pretend to be good, he could win you." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Thankfully he lost, but what's to stop him from going right back to terrorizing and killing our friends now?"

Elena dug her nails into her palms. "I TOLD you I didn't want to do this! I told you I didn't want to talk about this, Bonnie!" Her hands were shaking with the desire to strike out, to rip and tear. Snapping her eyes closed, she turned away again. She had to find her calm. She had to lock the monster back in its cage. "I told you I know the two of you hate each other…"

"He doesn't just hate me, Elena," Bonnie spewed venom refusing to heed her friend's warnings and let it go, "Damon wants me dead and the feeling is most definitely mutual."

A savage growl erupted from Elena's throat and she was across the kitchen and had Bonnie trapped against the island before the witch could blink. The human illusion faded away and Elena's true face was revealed. Her eyes glowed with blood and the veins around them slithered and throbbed. She swallowed around her fangs and barely resisted that beautiful beat that sang to her so temptingly from the witch's throat.

Bonnie stared up at her stunned. She reached for her power and came away empty. Fear locked her in place. Now she realized just how vulnerable she'd left herself.

The demon smiled at the prey, this vermin foolish enough to taunt the beast. "If Damon wanted you dead, Judgey, you'd be dead. Death is his talent and he's very very good at it."

"Elena, you don't want to do this," Bonnie whispered.

Elena cocked her head to the side and smiled even wider. She ran her tongue pointedly across her descended canine and felt a thrill shiver through her body as Bonnie followed the movement with terrified eyes. "You will not hurt him," Elena growled the words menacingly, "or there will be no where you can hide from me. Do you understand me?"

"ELENA!" Jeremy came skidding into the room on sock-covered feet. He dove for his sister. "Let Bonnie go!"

Elena turned to glare at her brother annoyed. "She started it."

Seeing the crazed sheen to her eyes, Jeremy held his hands in front of him and stepped back several feet to give her space. Elena was his sister and he loved her, but she was also a vampire and that had to be respected. She wasn't just a human girl with a funny diet; she was a bloodsucking fiend from beyond the grave. Pissing off a vampire, even a blood relation, was not a good idea. "I'm sure she did, Elena, but she's still one of your best friends. You'll never forgive yourself if you hurt her."

"She said she wants him dead," Elena growled.

Jeremy paused to throw Bonnie an exasperated look, because really? Did she have to poke the tiger with a stick? "She didn't mean it, Elena. She's not going to do anything to Damon. We need him and Bonnie knows it. Damon's a part of the team."

Jeremy could see the animal rage slowly bleeding out of his sister's eyes. He was watching her come down off the predatory high. Still, her grip on Bonnie hadn't loosened. She looked back at the witch. "She better know it."

Taking a careful step forward, Jeremy laid his hand on Elena's shoulder. "You're not going to hurt Bonnie."

A loud ding filled the air as the microwave timer went off. Elena's head snapped toward the sound. Finally she shrugged and released Bonnie. "My food's ready anyway." Without looking back at either of them, Elena sped across the room and retrieved her mug. Before either her brother or her friend could move, she sped away again leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs for the privacy of her bedroom.

Jeremy glared at Bonnie once they were alone. "Do you have a death wish?"

Bonnie clasped her shaking hands together and tried to calm herself down. She was still terrified. "I didn't mean to start a fight, Jeremy. I just got angry." She thought back to the look in Elena's eyes as she leaned over her and Bonnie shuddered. "I never thought she'd take it that far."

"You threatened her…" Jeremy rolled his eyes as he struggled to find the right words, "her Damon, Bonnie! She's a vampire and you threatened her Damon!"

Now Bonnie sneered. "He's Damon, Jeremy! I will never understand her. Why does she even care?"

"Because she does," Jeremy answered her. "Emotions aren't rational, Bonnie. You're never going to rational her into making those feelings go away. Damon and Elena are some serious shit and if you like life then you better learn to stay out of it." He turned his back on his ex-girlfriend and went to leave the room.

At the doorway, Jeremy paused and looked back at the confused and shaken witch behind him. "If I wasn't our very own walking talking version of 'The Sixth Sense' you might be dead right now, Bonnie. Think about how much Elena loves you and then realize that all it took was one vague threat against Damon to wipe it all away. She might have killed you over him." He let his words sink in and smiled at her sadly. "Now how do you think she feels about HIM?"

* * *

In her bedroom, Elena was trying to hold herself together. Removed from the situation and able to think clearly again, the horror of her actions was rolling over her. She'd completely lost control. She could have killed Bonnie. She'd wanted to kill Bonnie and to savor it.

She had to find her calm. She had to relax. Sitting her mug down on her dresser, Elena tore off her clothes and sped to the closet. Flinging open the door, she reached down to pick up her favorite shirt. She hugged it to herself before pulling it on. Taking deep calming breaths, Elena walked to the dresser to retrieve her mug. As she reached for it, she felt a disturbance in the air. Before Elena could even turn to face the new threat, she found herself spun around and pinned to the wall.

Elena stared up into the face of a livid Damon. His eyes were flashing as his human mask began to slip. With the hand not clamped around her throat, Damon reached out and pulled at the fabric of the shirt she was wearing. "This is my shirt." He growled and his hand against her throat shook as he locked his eyes on hers. "Elena, what the fuck are you doing wearing my shirt?"

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	9. Chapter Eight: Slow burn

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena is the plan but you never know. I'm not the biggest Elena fan at the moment.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Not sure how I feel about this one. It was a strange chapter to write. I wanted to do the buildup justice, but I didn't want to take things too far too fast. I will be interested to see how you guys react to it. Please let me know what you think. Happy early 4th to those of you from the US!

* * *

Chapter Eight

* * *

Damon watched as Elena's pupils dilated and a whimper escaped her throat. She shuddered. "I can't do this right now, Damon. Please. I have to calm down."

Damon scoffed but refused to back down. She was having problems thinking clearly? Well, so the fuck was he! There she was prancing around in nothing but his shirt. Did she have any idea how easy it would be to throw her down on that girly bed, spread her legs and fuck her until she couldn't remember anything but his name?

Damon shook himself. "You think I'm afraid of a baby vamp? I can handle your temper, Elena. Your bitch face may scare your annoying little friends and Saint Stefan, but I can give back anything you can dish out. I'm the bad guy, remember?"

He watched her swallow and bite that pouty bottom lip. He wanted to suck it into his mouth. In his head Damon could still hear her growling at Bonnie in his defense. His dick hardened further just thinking about it. He wanted to close his eyes and imagine her expression in the kitchen…to see it for himself. He wanted to drag her down the stairs and fuck her in the living room so Judgey could watch. Every instinct inside him was screaming for him to claim her as his.

His control had been hanging by a fucking thread as he sat outside in that tree like a damn creeper and listened to every word they said. He told himself she was Stefan's, she'd chosen Stefan, it would ALWAYS be Stefan, but then she had to strut her happy ass into the room and pull on HIS shirt. What the fuck did she expect? She'd be lucky if there was enough left to identify when he was through with her. He was going to devour her.

Elena jerked her head from side to side. She gasped for breath and blood flooded the whites of her eyes. "Not the bad guy," Elena struggled to speak, "and that's not what I mean." She moaned and arched her body against him as if she couldn't help herself. Her canines descended and she panted around them. "I have…like no impulse control when I'm like this, Damon. I can't control myself."

Damon threw back his head and laughed and it was a bitter sound. His eyes darkened to match hers and he felt a shiver wrack her body. Leaning forward, he pressed her into the wall with his own weight and bit back a groan at the feel of her glued against him. Cocking his head to the side, Damon brought his mouth to her ear. "Welcome to the club."

"Damon," she whimpered and bucked against him. She buried her hands in his hair and purred when he shuddered.

Damon moved one hand down and slid it underneath his shirt to rest on her bare ass. Savoring her gasp, he lifted her against him and wedged himself between her thighs. Elena wrapped them around his waist without thought and arched against him as she moaned. It was all he could do not to rip open his jeans and fuck her senseless. She felt so good pressed up to him rolling her hips against his rock hard dick. He wanted to feel her from the inside, wanted her throbbing around him like a hot wet glove.

Fighting for control, Damon lowered his mouth to her pulse. He wet the area first with his tongue, before nipping at her with his fangs. "Answer the question, Elena. Why are you wearing my shirt?"

Her hips jerked involuntarily at the contact and she rested her head against his neck breathing hard. "Needed to feel close to you," she said, "it helped."

He nipped at her again, harder this time. "You chose Stefan."

"I fucked up," Elena said. "I was a coward. I didn't want to lose anyone. I never thought you would leave me. I fucked up, Damon."

Damon pulled his head back far enough to lock his eyes on hers. "I had no reason to stay. Why should I stick around to watch that?"

"I know," Elena nodded. "You scared me, Damon. The way you made me feel wasn't something I could control. I was afraid of giving myself over to that." Her eyes glowed with sincerity and watered over as the blood faded away. "I was a coward and I took the easy way. I knew I could handle Stefan. His love was easy. Stefan didn't consume me. He didn't make me crazy."

Dropping her legs back to the floor, Damon ground his teeth and leaned his forehead against her. "And suddenly that's changed? I'm supposed to buy that?" He shook his head slowly back and forth. "No dice. I've played this game before, Elena. I'm the one who gets left to fight to the death with his best friend while you drive back to the pathetic asshole who let you choose to die."

"I fucked up."

"You have no idea how close it came, Elena," Damon smiled bitterly as he remembered that night. He could still feel the physical blows raining down, almost a relief, something to distract him from the gaping hole in the middle of his chest she'd left behind when she ripped out his heart. "You have no idea how close I came to letting Ric end me just because I didn't fucking care anymore. And who better to send me to hell than Ric?"

With a burst of strength and speed, Elena flipped their positions and suddenly Damon found himself pressed to the wall. Her game face back on Elena shook him hard pulling him back to the present. She growled at him. "I fucked up, Damon. I can't go back and change it, but I can own it. I can take responsibility for my actions and I can own up to the truth." She paused and loosened her grip on him, but stayed right in his personal space. "I chose wrong, Damon. I chose to be a coward and I paid the price. I lost you and it's killing me."

As he let her words sink in, Damon tried to control his reaction. Now that most of the lust had bled away and he was thinking clearly, he realized the stupid position he'd gotten himself into. Here he was inside her fucking room, having another soulful emotional conversation with the teenager who put his heart through a blender. He should have stayed in the damn tree. Despite his best efforts to freeze her out, Elena Gilbert still had his balls in a vice. A few pretty words and one fatal blast of those big doe eyes and he could feel his insides turning all mushy and gooey. Well fuck that shit.

Aiming to do some damage control, Damon cocked his head to the side and sneered. "You and Steffy will work it out. You always do."

Elena felt him pulling away from her and shoved his shoulder in a burst of anger. "I don't work without you, you asshole. I'm a fucking mess." At his lifted brow, she seethed. "And yes, I know I deserve it."

Damon smirked. "Just so we're clear." He could deal with her anger. They were practically old friends. Stepping to the side he walked toward her bed to give himself some distance. "I didn't come back here for this shit. I'm here for the stake."

Digging her fingernails into her palms, Elena crossed her arms over her chest and wrestled the monster back into its cage. When her human mask was back in place she threw him her most determined glare. Damon wondered if she thought she looked formidable with that stubborn expression. Someone needed to break it to her: formidable required pants. "I'm not giving up on you. I know you came back for the stake, but I'm not just letting you walk away again."

"Tell that to Epic Stefan."

"I'm done pretending, Damon," Elena told him. "I don't want to hurt Stefan, but I know what it's like to live without you now. I'd rather be consumed and out of control than bleeding internally with a smile painted on my face." She tilted her head to the side and a sad smile curved her lips. "I spend half my time out of control these days anyway."

Damon thought back to her attack on Stefan and the confrontation with Bonnie in the kitchen. He smirked. "It's a good look on you."

Elena grimaced and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm glad someone likes it. You might change your mind when it's directed at you."

Damon held up his hand and shook it side to side. "Shiver," he told her mockingly. He watched as Elena's eyes lit up in challenge and laughed out loud at the sight. She'd certainly turned into quite the little hellcat while he was gone. Still, "I'm not Steffy or Blondie, Elena. You're not a human anymore and I'm not going to handle you with kid gloves. I've got a hundred and fifty odd years of dirty street fighter on you. If you want your ass kicked, just let me know."

Elena's eyes twinkled and she took a slow seductive step toward him. "From what I remember, fighting with you was practically foreplay. I could always use the practice."

And the little tease was still standing there wearing nothing but his damn shirt. SO not fair. What had become of him? When had Damon Salvatore become the neutered loser who passed up this type of invitation? Watching the way her body moved under the scant fabric and the flashes of heaven as the shirt rode up her thighs, Damon felt lust burn in his guts even as he backed away from her. He threw her a warning glance and silently cussed himself for being completely domesticated. "You're dating Epic Stefan," he reminded her.

Elena bit her lip and backed up ashamed of herself. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"Same song, different verse," Damon muttered and rolled his eyes.

"Guys," a knock sounded on the door as Jeremy's voice carried to them, "the bat signal just went up. We need you down here."

As Elena seemed to be frozen staring at the wall, Damon answered him. "Give us five, Ghost Whisperer."

"Sure thing, dick," Jeremy said.

Damon could hear him whining about the new nickname as he walked away. The vampire smiled. He'd sorta missed the annoying cockblocker. Then he looked back at Elena.

Her expression was stricken. "How did he know you were here?"

Damon made a face. "His room's across the hall, Elena. Despite his years of hard work listening to massive amounts of eardrum-piercing shitty music, the kid's not deaf."

Her eyes widened. "Do you think he heard us?"

Damon's mouth twitched as his temper spiked. "Like I said, same song different verse." Elena realized how her question came across and opened her mouth to object to his interpretation. Damon wasn't in the mood. "Put on some pants."

Elena bit her tongue and let it pass. They didn't have time for another fight. She moved quickly to her closet and grabbed her jeans yanking them on. When she reached to pull off her shirt, Damon scoffed again. She turned to look back at him. "What?"

He nodded to the shirt, "you planning to give that back?"

Elena smirked at him. "Not in this lifetime." Without bothering to hide from his eyes she pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it on her bed. Elena walked to her dresser and dug out a bra as casually as she could manage under his intense scrutiny. Then she quickly clasped it and sped to the closet for another shirt. When she was finally dressed, she walked forward to stand in front of his stiff frame and smiled. "It's worn out anyway. I sleep in it every night. I'll buy you a new one if you want."

Damon hissed through his teeth at that visual. He took a step back, shook his head, and turned toward the door. "Let's just go see what Bitchy and Baby Gilbert want. Hopefully there's something to kill. I could really go for a spot of violence right now."

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	10. Chapter Nine: Coming Clean

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: So, I have a dilemma. Stefan and Elena need to break up. Those two aren't staying together no matter what I do to end my story. BUT…god, I so don't want to write that scene. I'd rather pull out my own teeth. I think I might puke a little in my mouth just typing the words. So, would it be a total cop-out to have that be off-scene and maybe just cover Elena thinking about it or discussing it? Let me know what you think.

* * *

Chapter Nine

* * *

When he followed Elena down the stairs and into the Gilbert living room, Damon noted that Bonnie didn't really look surprised to see him…more resigned. He could appreciate the sentiment. What the fuck was he doing here? He thought back to the scene that had just unfolded in Elena's bedroom and his guts twisted into knots. How was he letting her suck him back in? He knew better than this. He'd learned his damn lesson. The girl was a fucking biohazard and he'd do well to remember it.

"Bonnie, Jer, what's going on?" Elena asked.

Bonnie eyed Elena cautiously and kept careful distance between them. Damon fought back a smile. About time the witch figured out she wasn't at the top of the food chain. "I got a text from Caroline," Bonnie finally spoke, "she needs us at the Lockwood mansion."

"What happened?" Elena questioned.

"We don't know," Jeremy answered this time. "Caroline didn't say. She just said we need to get there ASAP."

"I tried to call her but her phone's busy," Bonnie said. "She must be talking to someone else."

"If there's one thing Blondie does well, its run her mouth," Damon said as he turned toward the front door. "I didn't bring my car. I'll meet you there."

"I'm coming with you," Elena said.

Damon grimaced and turned back to look at her. "Don't you want to play bodyguard to the Scooby Gang or something? Someone could attack their car. The boogeyman might have road rage."

Elena narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Bonnie's perfectly capable of protecting herself and Jeremy on a five mile drive, Damon. You're not getting rid of me that easily. I can keep up with you now."

"Don't bet on it," Damon sneered.

"Don't underestimate me." Elena stepped up to face him and placed herself firmly in his personal space. She tilted up her chin and glared into his eyes.

What the FUCK was up with that? He was the one that was supposed to push those boundaries, not Elena. He was supposed to stand too close and stare too hard and make her uncomfortable. Those were his moves, dammit!

"Could you two please spare us the lesson in Sexual Tension 101 and move out of the way," Bonnie growled. "I'd like to leave sometime tonight."

Elena stepped back from Damon abashed and cleared a path to the front door for her brother and her best friend. "Sorry. I got distracted."

Jeremy smirked at his sister and walked by but Bonnie hung back. Damon could see the witch was fighting an internal battle with herself. Finally her shoulders sagged. "Look it's fine. I get it." She bit her lip and looked at her best friend. "You're a big girl, Elena, and you can make your own decisions. I want to be there for you and I'll listen if you want to talk, but I officially no longer have an opinion. From now on I want to stay out of your love life."

Damon stared at her in disbelief. "I'm not a part of her love life."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You keep telling yourself that." She walked forward to join Jeremy and the two headed out the door.

Stunned, Damon shook his head. "It's like a bad LSD trip. This shit just keeps coming."

"We better go," Elena told him, but she couldn't help smiling at the now-closed door. She was pretty sure that was the closest they were ever going to get to the Bonnie Bennett stamp of approval.

* * *

The trip to the Lockwood's went quickly and Elena managed to keep pace with Damon even though he didn't make it easy on her. She knew his mood had blackened since leaving her room and she tried not to let it get to her. As much as it hurt, Elena understood where he was coming from. He didn't want to let her in. He didn't want to care and every time he dropped his guard it pissed him off. She knew she deserved it and she was determined to prove to him that this time was different. She was different. It was going to take time, but time was something she had plenty of these days.

Their friends were standing in a circle in the Lockwood's front yard. As she and Damon walked forward to join them the smell of gasoline and burnt grass made Elena wrinkle her nose. She looked at the ground and grimaced. A large copy of the same marking as on her car door was burned into the lawn.

"Carol's going to have kittens," Damon said.

"Oh, she already has," Caroline threw Elena a quick smile as she walked over to them. She reached forward and stuck her hand in Damon's jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. As she fiddled with it, she shrugged. "It was everything we could do to stop her calling an emergency council meeting, like that would help. The council still doesn't trust us. Tyler finally convinced her to take a Valium and go to bed, but we still had to promise her we'd call mom and report it."

Damon frowned at his phone. "What are you doing?"

"Sending myself, Tyler, and Matt a text so we have your number," Caroline smiled brightly at him as she handed it back. "All we had was your old number and Stefan refused to give us the new one…some crap about respecting your right to privacy."

Elena grinned and yanked Damon's phone back out of his hand before he could put it away. She composed her own text and hit send.

Damon's eyebrows shot up at the blonde's statement. "And?"

"And you used me as your personal juice box," Caroline said, "I don't care about your privacy." She saw him tense up defensively and rolled her eyes. "We need to be able to reach you if something goes down, Damon. You're kind of a key player."

"Whatever," Damon grumbled. He frowned at Elena and took back his phone. Then he motioned to the burned ground with his head. "You see who did it?"

Blonde curls danced as Caroline shook her head. "Nope, we were in bed. Thankfully we smelled smoke. We looked out the window and this was already ablaze."

"The curse," Elena whispered to herself. She turned to Damon. "We have to get Mrs. Lockwood out of the house, Damon. She could get sick. Remember what Katherine said earlier?"

"This isn't a real earth mark, Elena," Bonnie interrupted as she joined them. Her fingers were covered in soot and gasoline from examining the symbol. "We'll lay down a protective circle around the house as a precaution but this was a statement not a spell. Just like your car, this was made as a showpiece."

"Someone wanted to send the Lady Mayor a message," Katherine drawled.

"And to embarrass her," Stefan added. "Anyone who knows Carol knows how much appearances matter to her." He threw Tyler an apologetic look. "No offense."

"None taken," Tyler said.

"Attacking the Mayor is a bold move," Jeremy said.

"It's a contradiction," Katherine told them. "Earth marks are old power, deeply rooted in tradition. The old ways were protected, kept zealously secret from outsiders." She moved to stand directly beside Damon and leaned against him. Elena tried to ignore the stab of jealousy in her stomach at their comfortable and easy manner with each other.

"But this," Katherine continued, "this is reckless and obvious. This is the opposite of tradition and shows a complete disregard for the purpose of the earth marks to begin with. If everyone knows the marks are there, their power can be negated."

Damon tilted his head in Katherine's direction. "You smell like my bourbon."

She smirked and leaned closer against him. "You smell," she paused and took a loud sniff, "whipped."

"Katherine's right," Bonnie spoke up. "Traditionally an earth mark was hidden and only identifiable by the magical signature it broadcast to other witches. Making such a big show out of them doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe we're dealing with amateurs," Stefan reasoned.

Bonnie shook her head. "Amateurs wouldn't even know what earth marks were. I didn't know until we found the first one and I researched them."

"Maybe they're trying to distract us from the real threat," Damon mused.

Elena felt a chill of foreboding go down her spine. "The stake?" she questioned.

Damon nodded, his eyes staring off into the distance. "It was made to kill Originals, but it will work just fine on the rest of us." Unconsciously he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through Katherine's long brown curls.

Elena gasped quietly and felt her eyes film over with tears. Damon frowned at the sound and looked toward her. Elena jerked her face away but unfortunately she locked on Stefan. He stared back at her with heartbreak in his eyes. Elena fought back a sob. This was such a fucking mess and it was all her fault.

"Awkward," Tyler muttered under his breath and Elena realized the rest of the group was not oblivious to their drama. Caroline elbowed her boyfriend hard in the side and then cleared her throat. "So, what do we do now?"

"Call Liz," Damon decided. "Maybe they made a human mistake and the cops can find it."

"It's worth a shot," Stefan's voice was strained. He still hadn't looked away from Elena and she knew that sitting on this conversation until tomorrow wasn't going to happen. It was time. She had to suck it up and clean up the mess she'd made.

"I'll stay with Blondie and Wolf Boy and wait on Liz and her peeps," Damon drawled. "The rest of you should head home. We can meet up tomorrow."

Bonnie shook her head. "I have to get some salt and lay down the circle."

"I'll help you," Jeremy volunteered. "Then we'll ride back together."

Bonnie smiled at him. "Thanks."

"We'll check the kitchen and see if we have any salt," Tyler offered dragging Caroline along with him.

Elena watched the four of them walk off. She looked at Matt. He gave her a brief smile and shrugged. "Guess I'm heading home."

Damon groaned and reached up to rub at his eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this. Donovan, you need to stay at the boarding house where you can be protected." He lowered his hand and smirked at his sire. "You can give Katherine a ride back, since she'll be leaving me my car."

"Lovely," Katherine hissed. She stomped deliberately on Damon's foot with her high heeled boot before strutting off in the direction of Matt's car without waiting for his agreement.

Matt frowned after the temperamental vampire. "You're punishing me, aren't you?"

Damon snorted. "No, if I was punishing you, I'd put you on Rebekah duty. I hear she still has quite the crush on you. Cause nothing says I like you like running you off a bridge."

Matt nodded. "I'd rather deal with Katherine." He followed the brunette.

"Good choice," Damon said. Finally he looked to Stefan and Elena. He wiggled his fingers at them mockingly. "Scamper."

Taking a deep breath, Elena forced a shaky smile and walked to Stefan. "Shall we?"

His expression was solemn. He nodded. "Let's do this."

Stefan turned toward the driveway and Elena fell into step beside him. They'd only made it a few steps when she heard Damon mutter behind them. "You two lovebirds go kiss and make up."

Elena sighed and shook her head. Stefan gave a hollow laugh. "Denial runs in the family."

She could feel Damon's eyes burning a hole in her back. She looked back briefly over her shoulder, but he jerked them away and bent down to study the burnt symbol at his feet. Damon was determined to fight her every step of the way. He was so damn stubborn, but then so was she. She would put up with his bullshit and his posturing and she would meet him step for step. She would fight for him as hard and as long as it took because he was worth it and she was going to make him see that. This was the last time she would willingly walk away from him.

Glancing to the side, Elena took in Stefan's hunched shoulders and resigned expression. It hurt to see him that way, but it was time to stop pretending. This wasn't healthy for either one of them anymore. Neither of them was happy. They hadn't been living for the last year; they'd been existing in this stupid holding pattern, trying to resurrect their perfect fantasy love. Well, she was done with the fantasy. She was done with perfect and easy and safe. She wanted hard and messy and scary and real. She was ready to be consumed now. She was ready for Damon.

So, yes, Elena was walking away this one last time because she had a mess to clean up. But Damon better be ready because she was coming back for him. He could throw as many obstacles in her path as he wanted, but this was a war she was going to win. She would work her way back inside Damon's heart step by step and she would make damn sure he never dug her out again.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	11. Chapter Ten: Eyes Open

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: I couldn't bring myself to cover it as it went down. I would have ended up making it turn ugly just because I could. I hope this does it justice. I'd love to know what you think.

* * *

Chapter Ten

* * *

"So you broke up with him, right?"

Elena tried to shake the eerie feeling walking down her spine. She was imagining things, she had to be. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sky was clear and the sun was shining. She was staring out her bedroom window at the empty front lawn. There was nothing sinister there; nothing to fear. So why did it feel different? Why did it feel…wrong?

"Elena?"

"Oh," she spun to face Caroline with a sad smile, "sorry. I've just had this weird feeling all morning."

Caroline made a face. "It's not regret, it is? Because I really think you did the right thing Elena. Sometimes you can't go back." The perky blonde stood up from the bed where she was sitting and walked across to stand in front of her best friend. She took Elena's hands in hers. "You and Stefan are different people now. You're not those sweet innocent high school kids anymore. You have to accept that and move forward."

Elena took in Caroline's serious compassionate expression and couldn't help but snort with laughter. "Can I tell Stefan you called him a sweet innocent high school kid?"

Caroline frowned confused. "You two are still speaking?" Then she put her hands on her hips irritated. "Oh god you wimped out, didn't you? You didn't break up with him."

"I didn't wimp out," Elena rolled her eyes and walked toward her dresser. She picked up her brush and started pulling it through her hair. "We broke up and it was sort of a mutual decision."

"How'd you pull that one off?" Caroline asked.

"We both knew it was coming, Care," Elena said. "We've been a mess for a long time. We were stuck." She put the brush back down and shrugged. "It was only a matter of time until one of us spoke up and forced the issue."

Nodding, Caroline walked back over to retake her seat on the bed. "So what did you tell him?"

Elena leaned back against the dresser facing her best friend. She grimaced as she thought about the night before. "The truth," she finally answered.

Caroline's eyebrows show up, "The whole truth?"

"Yes."

"And you're sure you two are still speaking?" Caroline said. At Elena's frown she continued. "I just mean…you told him about the shirt and everything?"

Elena's mouth fell open. "How did you know about…"

Caroline snorted. "Please, you're not nearly as good at sneaking around as you think you are." Elena cocked her head to the side and Caroline smirked. "Remember when I borrowed your shoes for the last Decade Dance?"

Elena tried to wrap her head around the idea of Caroline keeping that secret for over six months. She couldn't believe the blonde hadn't confronted her and demanded some explanation.

Seeming to read her thoughts, Caroline smiled gently. "Give me a little credit, Elena. I'm your best friend. I've watched you struggle to cope since you got turned. You were barely hanging on back then. The last thing you needed was me getting in your face and acting all offended on Stefan's behalf."

Unable to meet those knowing eyes anymore, Elena buried her face in her hands and sighed. "I told him everything. I told him I believed I was making the right choice for everyone that night, but I was really being a coward. I was afraid of loving Damon. He scared me because I couldn't control how he made me feel. I thought Stefan was the right choice for me because he made me feel safe, but then when Damon left nothing made sense anymore."

Lifting her head again, Elena stared at nothing as memories played out in her mind. "I never realized how much I depended on Damon. I always knew he would be there." Tears welled in her eyes and Elena didn't even bother to fight them back. "I might have talked a good game and railed at him about his obsessive drive to protect me even against my will, but the truth was I counted on it. I knew that even if I was spewing hatred at him, Damon would be there to keep me going. I knew he would never stop fighting for me. He would never give up."

"It's hard to ignore that kind of devotion," Caroline acknowledged.

Elena tilted her head back and blew out a loud breath. "Stefan was like this ideal I had built up in my head. I had this shiny picture of the way things used to be. I fought so long and so hard to bring Stefan back and I thought if I just chose him I could be happy again. I thought we'd have back this perfect love I remembered, but what I've realized is…"

"That love was never really perfect to begin with?" Caroline's expression turned rueful and she acknowledged her own part in the triangle drama. "It probably didn't help all of your best friends were pretty hard-core Team Stefan, either."

Elena shook her head. "It didn't matter Caroline. I was chasing a dream. I was trying to rewind my life and my heart to where they used to be." She smiled even as her eyes welled with more tears. "I wanted that old feeling back. I was so tired and so broken inside and all I wanted was to be happy again. And in my head I had this picture of Stefan with the word happy stamped on it."

Pushing away from the dresser in agitation, Elena walked toward the window again. She crossed her arms over her chest and ran her hands up and down them trying to rub away the cold she could feel deep in her bones. "The truth is it was never Stefan I was choosing." She frowned. "I mean, I did love Stefan. I really was in love with him once. But what I wanted was my life back. I wanted to be that ignorant innocent high school kid again. And Stefan can't give that back to me. No one can."

As she blinked tears trailed down her cheeks in lines. She took a shuddering breath and gritted her teeth. "Stefan can't bring back Jenna. He can't bring back Alaric. He can't erase the nightmares of watching them die, of dying myself, of being strapped down with tubes shoved in my veins as Klaus drained my life away to make his pathetic ass some friends. Stefan can't fix me and it wasn't fair of me to expect him to. I have to fix myself."

"And Damon?" Caroline asked.

Now Elena's smile was genuine. "Damon never would have let me pretend. Damon wants it to be real. He's stubborn and messy and he pushes me to be stronger and to fight for what I want. Back then Damon's love scared the living shit out of me. He was this crazy force of nature I couldn't control. He crawled his way underneath my skin and into my heart with me fighting him every step of the way. I didn't want to love him, but he didn't give me a choice."

"Sounds like Damon." Caroline walked over to stand by Elena at the window. She wrapped her arm around the brunette's shoulders and the two stood in silence for a minute before Caroline spoke again. "So no more epic love?"

Elena's face twisted into a snarl. "Do you have any idea how much I HATE that saying?"

Caroline giggled and leaned her head against Elena's. "Yep, about as much as we hate 'newborn rage'."

Elena joined in her laughter and shook her head. "If I could go back in time I'd kick my own ass."

"Oh wouldn't we all."

Elena gasped in surprise and turned to look at Caroline. The blonde realized how her words sounded and giggled again. "I meant I'd kick my own ass, Lena. We all make mistakes."

Elena nodded. "Sure." She looked back out the window again and her laughter faded away. She thought of Damon's cold demeanor toward her the night before. She remembered how casually he stroked Katherine's hair and the fond affection in their shared gaze. Her heart clenched with a mix of fear and pain. "What if I'm too late, Care? What if I've really lost him for good?"

Caroline snorted. "PLEASE! You have not lost Damon for good." Elena looked at her and Caroline squeezed her in a one-armed hug. "Damon Salvatore has always and will always be completely gone on you, Elena. This is a fact of life. The man is head over ass for you. He loves you inside and out, upside and down."

"I chose Stefan, Caroline. I broke his heart."

"Then you tell him what you just told me," Caroline said, "and you show him you mean it. You said Damon pushed you to fight for what you want, so fight for Damon." The blonde made a pained face. "I can't believe that sentence just came out of my mouth. It didn't taste right. I need mouthwash."

Elena laughed and turned to hug her fully. "Thank you, Care. Thanks for putting up with me and all my crap."

Caroline hugged her back and smiled. "I'm your best friend. It's in the job description. I fully expect you to listen to me whine about Tyler and his annoying bitch of a mother later." Stepping back, she tilted her head to the side. "We're supposed to head to the boarding house. You think you can handle seeing the Salvatore boys right now?"

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Elena nodded. "I have to face my problems. I'm done hiding."

Caroline flipped her blonde curls over her shoulder and turned toward the door. "You go girl!" She'd just reached it when Elena called her to a stop.

"What made you decide Stefan and I needed to call it quits, Care?" Elena asked curiously. "I mean, I would have expected a pep talk on working it out and saving our relationship."

"Denial land," Caroline leaned against the door frame and answered her. "Stefan lives there, and he wasn't going to pull his head out of his ass until he faced reality and stopped pretending he was living out his happily ever after. Both of you have been unhappy. Also, he can't deal with your hissy fits and depression. They freak him out." She paused and threw Elena a knowing look. "Besides, when was the last time you two even had sex?"

Elena winced and fidgeted awkwardly. Caroline smirked. "Exactly and that's not normal. You're a vampire, Elena. It makes you horny."

"Tell me about it," Elena muttered. Her eyes unconsciously darted to the wall by her dresser.

Caroline's nose wrinkled up in disgust. "Eww…I don't want to know." She gave a dramatic shudder and sped from the room.

Once she was dressed and gathered everything she wanted to carry with her, Elena left her room and headed downstairs to join Caroline. It wasn't until they'd opened the front door that she remembered the eerie sensation from earlier. It struck her again now full-force as they stepped out onto the porch. Her heightened senses went wild and she sniffed instinctively at the air. It smelt wrong.

Caroline frowned as she looked around as well. "Elena…"

"Stop," Elena said. "We need to stop."

Caroline shivered. "No arguments, but what…"

Her words trailed off to a surprised gasp as both girls watched a form rise slowly up out of the ground. It was a boy, late teens, with brown lanky hair wearing a torn navy blue shirt and faded jeans. His clothing, skin, and hair were covered with dirt and all manner of nastiness. His skin was grey and sagged unnaturally from his bones. His head was tilted down and to the left side. The strange angle highlighted the gruesome wound where his right shoulder met his neck. Skin and tissue were missing. Ripped muscles, tendons, and a shocking white flash of bone were clearly visible.

Caroline stared in horror as she took a step closer to Elena. "That is just…"

"Wrong," Elena finished for her.

As they watched him, the boy staggered one step forward and slowly lifted his head. His eyes were solid liquid black. They focused on Elena. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and her blood freeze in her veins. Her trained human reaction was one of fear, but Elena wasn't human anymore and she was done playing the victim. With a sigh of part pleasure, part relief, she gave in to the anger always buried just beneath the surface and slid loose the latch to the monster's cage. A growl escaped her throat as the human mask peeled away and she stared down the threat.

The boy seemed to pulse with hatred, with darkness. He opened his mouth and a piercing wail filled the air. Then he dove forward toward the porch and the two vampires. Just as Elena and Caroline moved to meet him, he crossed the line of salt Bonnie laid down the night before. They watched stunned as he burst into flames and burned away disappearing without leaving behind so much as a spec of ash.

The girls stood shaken on the porch for a minute as both tried to get themselves back under control. Finally Caroline shuddered and looked at Elena. "What the hell was that?" Elena struggled to find an answer, but Caroline wasn't waiting on one. "Did you see his neck? Someone did that, Elena. Someone killed that boy and sent him here after us."

Elena jerked her head from side to side. Her mouth was dry. "No, Care."

"Elena, that wasn't natural. That was witchcraft," Caroline said. "He couldn't pass the salt. That's why he burned."

Elena gritted her teeth and dug her nails into her palms. "I know."

"We need to get to Bonnie," Caroline muttered. "They're killing people now. This isn't just stupid symbols burned into the lawn anymore."

"They didn't kill him, Caroline." The blonde froze. She turned and looked at her best friend. Elena's eyes were huge and empty. "I did. I killed him. He was my first slip."

Caroline's mouth dropped open in a silent O. She took a second to digest the revelation and then pushed it away. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and pulled Elena into a hug. "Okay, we're going to head back inside and you're going to pack some things and then we're going to the boarding house. You and Jeremy are not staying here until we end these bitches. Understood?"

Elena shook her head. She felt sick. She stared across the lawn and she could still see him standing there, staring at her, accusing her. "I did this, Caroline. I killed him."

"Elena," Caroline shook her hard and glared, "you did not do this. You made a mistake. You slipped. It's horrible, but it happens. We do not have time for a pity party right now. Those stupid witches did this and we have to stop them before they pull something else."

Elena shuddered. She thought about the last year and her lengthy list of sins. The taste of bile filled her mouth. "They could go after the others, Caroline. I've slipped four times. There are three other bodies out there."

Caroline rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Three bodies? Elena, if they start calling up all of Damon and Stefan's victims it's going to start looking like a Walking Dead episode around here."

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	12. Chapter Eleven: Living Dead Girl

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Thanks to everyone for your awesome reviews. I plan to reply to them, but I just haven't gotten the chance yet. Real life is keeping me pretty busy at the moment. But you guys and your encouragement really do keep me going. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I actually had the second part all typed out and was planning to go further from there when the first part just kinda snuck up on me and insisted to be written. Let me know what you think! :-)

Warning: References to violence, to rough sex, hints of bloodplay.

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Chapter Eleven

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_Something had to give…_

He could feel it humming beneath his skin. He felt hot, tense, on edge. He knew the signs. He'd been here before. He could feel his nerves jumping, his teeth grinding, feel the animal lurch against its bonds as it roared in thwarted rage. It needed to rip, to tear, to fuck, to kill.

Release…he needed release. He needed a long stretch of virgin neck just waiting to be sampled…young, innocent, terrified, but always mixed with a burning dark excitement not quite concealed. A gasp followed by the utter bliss of hot blood pouring down his throat. Stifled whimpers and moans dancing the fine line between pleasure and pain. Breathing deep and savoring the perfume of fear and arousal soaking the air.

He needed a tight pussy squeezing his cock, warm thighs wrapped around his hips, nails down his back, heels digging into his ass. An arm under one thigh, lifting and spreading her wide, hitting the right angle, the right depth as that velvet grip milked away all the thoughts and confusion…the guilt and the pain. The gasps and moans in the air, racing to the top, thrusting home and flying over the edge into sharp mindless pleasure. The brief oblivion that follows…freedom, escape…the boulder lifted off of his chest so he can breathe again for just one fucking second.

He needed to stare into bright terrified eyes, watch the tears well over, the fear and the pain, and then that perfect stunning spark of clarity, of epiphany right before they fade into blank calm. He needed that spark, that sharp shot of life, of death, of finite and infinite, of now and eternity.

"Damon…"

She swam into his vision, straddling his waist, dark dancing eyes and sharp curved lips. Wearing a black lace bra and barely-there matching thong, she looked like a dark queen sent to torment and conquer him. She pinned his arms to the bed over his head, lowered her mouth to his neck, her chestnut hair tickling his face as he bucked his hips in a half-hearted attempt to fight her off. Her husky chuckle cut through the silence. She purred and rubbed against him like a cat. The friction of her lace-covered crotch against his hard dick made him hiss and roll to meet her. The familiar scrape of a razor-sharp fang along his jugular had him gasping and bowing his back as he fought not to come like an untried youth with his first woman.

"Katherine, get the fuck off me," he forced the words out even as his eyes rolled back in his head and he shuddered with pleasure.

The siren hummed in appreciation of his reaction. She nipped at him again and Damon's fangs descended. They sliced through his lip and he groaned and pulled himself taunt fighting a losing battle with his control. The sharp taste of his own blood cleared his mind for a moment, but then she rolled her hips again and traced the line of his neck with the tip of her tongue. His vision blurred and then sharpened to precision as he growled and the last of his restraint slipped from his grasp.

_Something had to give…_

Thrusting back his head, Damon angled it sharply to the left and offered her his neck. "Do it!" He submitted to her and gave up the fight.

He felt the drag of her fangs again and let his eyes slide closed. The bite never came. He heard a high sweet giggle instead and then her lips were dancing around the shell of his ear. "There are only a couple of problems with this whole scenario you have going here, Damon."

Damon frowned and opened his eyes but didn't look to the side. "Katherine?"

Her fangs nipped at his ear hard and she clamped her thighs around his hips tightly enough to hurt. "But Katherine just doesn't do it for you anymore, remember Damon?"

He felt like he was being torn in two. His whole body caught fire at the same time that ice water surged through his veins. This was both heaven and hell. "Elena?" he choked.

"Also," she mused, "this bed doesn't exist anymore, Damon. I trashed it a long time ago." Her voice turned mocking. "Just ask Stefan. It was the newborn rage."

Damon sat up with a gasp. He found himself in an unfamiliar bed. It took him a minute to recognize the random open room he'd settled for the night before. He had no time to really process that or begin to deal with his fucked up psyche and the twisted mix of fantasy and nightmare it had just dealt him, because the door swung open and Stefan came hulking in.

His brother looked weary. He looked beaten but not broken. Damon didn't know how to take that. He did know he had no intention of bringing up a certain young doppelvamp. That subject was better left untouched for both their sakes.

"Good, you're up," Stefan leaned back against the wall beside the doorway and frowned. "We need to talk about Elena."

Damon rolled his eyes. Of course, Stefan would be Stefan.

* * *

It turned out Elena had managed to take the mere eight hours he was away from her and multiply the weird in Mystic Falls by about a hundred. Oh and she'd managed to squeeze in breaking up with Stefan and a good five hours sleep. If nothing else, the girl deserved points for style.

"A zombie?" Judgey's eyebrows were furrowed. She stood facing Caroline inside the doorway of the boarding house. The blonde was eagerly relating every detail of her earlier encounter with the less well-preserved undead.

"Totally a zombie," Caroline nodded and her curls bounced.

"Because obviously Mystic Falls hasn't reached its freak quota for the year," Damon said. He carefully kept his eyes away from Elena as she maneuvered her way around her best friends and toward the stairs. She was dragging a suitcase behind her and Damon could only assume she'd finally come to her senses about staying with them.

"Where did you leave the body?" Bonnie asked. "I need to see it."

Caroline frowned. "Okay, number one: Eww. When did my life become 'where did you leave the body'? And number two: There was no body. He like…burned up or something."

"That doesn't make any sense. What do you mean?"

Elena sighed and propped the suitcase against the stairs. "She means he burned up, Bonnie. He made this wailing sound and dove toward us, but when he crossed the salt he burst into flames."

Bonnie bit her lip. "Wait a minute. I need to check something." She walked across the room and picked up one of the books she'd stacked on the table earlier. She flipped through the pages and then stopped to read. After muttering under her breath for a minute, the witch looked back toward Blondie. "What did his eyes look like?"

The bubbly vampire made a face and crossed her arms over her chest. "I wasn't looking at his eyes, Bon. I was a little focused on his neck…or more accurately the lack thereof." Her expression flashed guilt briefly and she threw Elena an apologetic look.

Damon frowned. What was up with that? He forced himself to look at Elena fully for the first time since she'd arrived. On the surface he could see she looked fragile and haunted, but he also recognized the steel in her spine and the fire boiling beneath the surface. Miss Gilbert was pissed.

"They were black," Elena answered Bonnie through gritted teeth, "solid liquid black."

Bonnie held the book up in her left hand and pointed to the page with her right. "It wasn't a zombie. It was a shade."

"A what?" Damon turned to Bonnie and asked. He tried to ignore Elena as she made her way into the parlor and positioned herself beside him. He failed but he tried.

Bonnie heaved a deep sigh and moved to sit on the couch. She placed the book down in front of her. "The salt wouldn't stop a real zombie. It might break down the magic used to reanimate the corpse, but the corpse would remain. There still would have been a body."

"Cut the bullshit magic lesson, Judgey. We turned down our invitations to Hogwarts," Damon said. "What's a shade?"

"It's a phantom," Katherine's lazy drawl sounded from the doorway. She strutted in to join them and placed herself on Damon's other side.

He was flanked on both sides by Petrova: curls, a crimson corset, and black leather pants on his left and silky straight, a blue t-shirt, and skinny jeans on his right.

Flashbacks of his earlier dream had him wincing and trying to edge away from both women. Elena frowned at him concerned, but Katherine just smirked. She tilted her head in his direction. "A shade is a phantom," she repeated herself, "it's a magical manifestation of the fear, pain, and rage of the victim of a violent death."

Bonnie glared at Katherine hard. Damon smirked at the witch. "Don't it just suck when she steals your thunder like that?"

Elena rolled her eyes at his antics and jumped in before Bonnie had the chance to take offense. "So he couldn't have actually hurt us? He was just some kind of…ghost? Another scare tactic?"

Damon could already see her working herself up into another tizzy, grabbing her suitcase, and heading home. Well that shit wasn't going to fly. "Have we forgotten that ghosts have a way of being a pain in the ass in this town? Mason Lockwood hurt me plenty."

"It's not a ghost," Bonnie jumped back in. "It's a magical manifestation. It can hurt you physically and it can't be fought by normal means. It has no physical body. Shades are extremely dark magic and extremely dangerous."

Damon wiggled his eyebrows at Elena. "Told ya."

"Well this one is also extremely gone," Caroline reminded them. "He lit up like a firecracker."

"But if they're willing to cross that line and create one shade, they're willing to create more," Bonnie said.

"And god knows they have their choice of gruesome candidates around here," Caroline reluctantly agreed.

"So what do we do about them?" Elena asked.

Bonnie looked back to the book. "We stick together. We keep up the salt circles and when we leave the protected houses there's a recipe for a potion here. It's supposed to dispel shades. If we can recreate it, everyone can carry it on them."

"I'll help you," Caroline offered. Bonnie smiled her thanks.

Damon scoffed at the plan. "That's defense. I'm offense. We need to find out who's behind this shit."

Bonnie glared at him. "I'm up for suggestions, Damon. We've been putting up with this crap for weeks and it's escalating, but we can't fight what we can't find."

Damon looked to Katherine for help. She frowned thoughtfully. "The darkest magics leave a signature on the cast and a stamp on the caster. When you go that deep, you have to pay a price with your soul." She nodded her head toward Bonnie. "Little Bennett might be able to trace it."

"You tell me what to do and I'll try it," Bonnie said. Then she remembered who she was talking to and added "within reason."

"We might have another option," Stefan came walking around the corner into the room. He took in the formation of the individuals present before focusing on Damon. "Sheriff Forbes called. They're making an arrest in the Lockwood case."

Damon smiled thinking about his friend. "I'll head to the station and check it out." He looked at Stefan. "You coming with?"

"I am," Elena said.

Stefan winced slightly and shook his head. "I'll stay here and work with Katherine and the girls on the witchcraft."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "He'll fit right in."

Damon looked at Elena annoyed. "Don't you want to stay here and play potions?"

Elena smiled. "Not even remotely."

"Fabulous," he headed for the door with Elena right behind him. He was really starting to miss the days when he could just speed away and leave her ass in the dust.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	13. Chapter Twelve: I Think I'm Paranoid

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Sorry for the wait on this one guys. I've been really busy. I haven't had much time to read, much less write anything. Hope you guys are still out there.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

He was pulling even further away. Elena could feel it. After watching him last night with Katherine, the whole dramatic break up with Stefan, and the supernatural hijinks this morning, Elena was quickly reaching her breaking point. She couldn't handle much more. What had him running now? She'd broken up with Stefan, dammit. She'd finally cut the cord. And yes, maybe she should have done it a long time ago, but she could at least try to explain that if he'd give her the chance. She couldn't explain anything if he ran every time she entered the room.

Elena hadn't missed his strange behavior this morning. He wouldn't even look at her again. He'd been edging away from her when Katherine had decided to make her dramatic entrance and caged him in. Then he'd looked so uncomfortable it was painful to watch. He obviously wanted away from both of them. And what was up with that? Did they have a fight? Or, oh god, what if they spent the night having sex and he didn't want Elena to know? What if he smelled like Katherine and he knew she would pick it up with her vampire nose?

Elena's lips twisted into a snarl. She was going to have to kill that bitch. How dare she play with Damon's heart again? Hadn't she done enough damage? Katherine didn't love Damon. Hell, she didn't even love Stefan. Katarina Petrova found her soulmate long before either Salvatore was born. The bitch fell madly in love the first time she looked in a mirror.

"What did the desk do to you?" Damon drawled.

Elena snapped out of her thoughts and back to the present. They were sitting in Sheriff Forbes office waiting for her to make an appearance. Damon was slouched in the chair beside her with his right foot propped on his left knee. He was wearing a dark blue button-down shirt, dark jeans, and his standard black boots. He looked good enough to eat and the idea of Katherine getting a taste made Elena's blood boil. Turning her glare on the unsuspecting Salvatore, Elena leaned toward him and sniffed before she could think better of it. She didn't smell Katherine, but she did catch a hint of her Herbal Essences shampoo so maybe he'd showered.

Damon's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

Elena played dumb, "Nothing."

Now he was looking at her like she was crazy. "Are you okay? Blondie said the shade thing never got to you two."

Elena winced. Oh right, the shade. The horrific moving and wailing example of her not-so-squeaky-clean vampire past that had literally come back to bite her this morning. They were here to find out who was behind all this. She needed to focus on the evil witchcraft and vengeful dead. Instead she was lusting after Damon and coming up with creative ideas for how to drench him in her scent before he met back up with Katherine. Oh god, she was a horrible person.

"Elena?" he questioned.

"I'm fine," she smiled stiffly. Then her mouth opened without conscious thought. "So what did you do last night?"

Damon's eyebrows lifted. "You mean after I stuck around while Liz and her people processed the Lockwood crime scene?"

"Yep," Elena said, "what did you do after that?"

"I went to bed."

"What bed? You don't have a bed." It was like she had no filter. The words just kept coming out and she couldn't seem to stop them.

Damon glared at her. "Yea, I've been meaning to thank you for that. I liked that bed."

"So did half the women in Mystic Falls," Elena snapped. Her eyes widened in horror and she quickly clamped her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. Pretend I didn't say that." She tried to look as repentant as she felt. "I feel really bad about your bed, Damon. I was planning to replace it."

He relaxed slightly but his expression was still dubious. "Don't worry about it. Katherine bought a new one. She's having it delivered today." He rolled his eyes. "No telling how much that cost me."

The mention of Katherine and his bed in the same sentence made Elena see red. "And where did SHE sleep last night?" Elena growled.

Damon cocked his head to the side and examined her closely. "Are you on drugs?"

Elena gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. "NO! They wouldn't do me any good because I'm a fucking vampire!" She hated having no control over her emotions and today she was bouncing around like a ping pong ball.

"Oh there are a few that'll still rock your world," Damon assured her.

Elena snorted despite herself and smiled at him ruefully. "I meant prescription anti-depressants."

"I know what you meant."

"I'm sorry," she told him again. "I'm all over the place."

Damon shrugged. "Just don't be surprised if Liz asks you to pee in a cup." He pushed himself to his feet and turned toward the door just as it opened and Caroline's mom walked in. He nodded to the Sheriff, "Liz."

"Damon," the Sheriff smiled back at him. Her eyes were tired, but they showed genuine warmth for the vampire. Elena had always thought it was a little weird how well those two got along considering Damon's past relationship with Sheriff Forbes' daughter.

When the Sheriff noticed Elena's presence her expression turned wary. She kept careful distance between them and stayed closer to Damon. It was all Elena could do not to stomp her foot and yell. What exactly had Caroline been telling her mother?

Damon chuckled at Elena's expression before addressing Liz. "Stefan said you made an arrest?"

The Sheriff got down to business. "Not quite, but we're working on it. We have a suspect." She walked around to take a seat in her chair and flipped open the file sitting on her desk. "After you left last night one of the dogs led his handler back into the woods behind the Lockwood Estate. They found a gas can and some dirty rags covered in gasoline. The rags were a dead end, but we lifted some fingerprints off the can and ran them through the system. They came back as a match for a Jennifer Thorton, a twenty-two-year-old college drop out with a short record of minor drug possession charges. Thorton was picked up this morning at a bar rehearsing with a country band she sings for."

"Have you questioned her yet?" Damon asked.

"Of course," Sheriff Forbes answered. "She says she has no idea how her fingerprints got on the can. She was nowhere near the Lockwood Estate last night and two members of her band can vouch for her whereabouts at the time of the crime."

"They could be lying," Elena said. "Friends will cover for friends."

"Or they could be involved," Damon's take was more cynical.

"We're looking into both options on our end," Sheriff Forbes nodded. "We also found out that Thorton is the cousin of a Bradley Lewis who died eight months ago from a vampire attack. It seems a little too coincidental for her to not be involved with everything going down. I'm holding her as long as I can, but if we don't get something solid soon I'm going to have to cut her loose."

She sat back in her chair and looked at them solemnly. "I know about the earth marks and the missing stake, so I figured you guys might want a heads up so you can check her out using less conventional means. Normally I'd tell you to stay the hell out of my investigation, but whoever these witches are, they're targeting my daughter and I'm not going to stand by and let anything happen to Caroline."

The Sheriff's expression was conflicted as she leaned forward over her desk and held out a piece of paper to Damon. Elena could see writing down the page and a small picture of a brunette girl clipped to the top right corner.

Damon took the paper, but didn't bother to look at it yet. "Did you put the circle down around your house?" he asked instead.

Elena's eyes widened in surprise and she felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't even thought about protecting Caroline's mom.

"I did," the Sheriff said. "I also got to listen to our dear Mayor raise hell about replacing her grass this morning when she heard about the one at her house."

Damon smirked. "Tell Carol her son provided the salt. She can take it out of Dogboy's allowance."

The Sheriff smiled back. "I'm sure she'll love that." She pushed herself to her feet and walked back around her desk and to the door. "Come on. I'll walk you out."

"I don't suppose there's any way you would let us talk to the girl?" Damon asked as they stood up to follow her.

The Sheriff cocked her head to the side. "I'd rather not be a witness to you compelling my suspect, Damon. I don't want to have to testify against you later."

Damon just grinned. "Who said I'd have to compel her? She is female."

Elena rolled her eyes at his antics. "If she's a witch she can't be compelled anyway."

The Sheriff shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm bending the rules enough by telling you what I am. The council's still watching every step I take. "

Damon shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

The Sheriff opened the door but blocked it with her arm. She looked at Damon seriously. "I'm glad you're back, Damon. We can definitely use your help cleaning up this mess. But do me a favor and don't do anything stupid."

A fire sparked to life in Damon's eyes and a bitter smile curved his lips. "These bitches sent a vengeful spirit after Elena and your daughter this morning, Liz. They're not playing nice. I'll do exactly what I always do; what no one else is willing to."

Sheriff Forbes ushered Damon and Elena through the department and to the front doors. She was about to tell them goodbye when something caught her eye. She pulled open the door and froze in horror at the scene in the parking lot. "My god, do you see that?" She reached for her firearm on instinct.

Damon and Elena shared a glance then moved forward as one to nudge the Sheriff out of the way and step outside. The familiar feeling of wrongness immediately hit Elena in the face. She flinched but shook it off and prepared herself for attack. She focused on the two figures stumbling their way slowly toward them.

It was the morning all over again, but this time there were two and Elena recognized them both. The first was another slip, a man in his early twenties, black messy hair, wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans. His eyes were solid liquid black, his throat torn to shreds. Nasty muddy water was dripping from his hair and clothes to the ground. His malevolent gaze was focused straight on her.

The second was…

"Is that William Tanner?" Sheriff Forbes shuddered in disgust as she took a shaky step forward aiming her sidearm at the phantom.

Damon threw out his arm to bar her way and pushed her back. "Get back inside, Liz."

It was Tanner. He was wearing a suit and unlike the other shades he was clean and the wound on his neck was covered by his clothing. Elena imagined he looked like he'd simply gotten up and climbed out of his coffin, but his eyes bore the distinctive inky black mark of the witchcraft used to raise him.

"What are they?" the Sheriff asked.

"More presents from our friendly neighborhood witches," Damon said. "They're shades and we can't fight them."

"We have to fight them! I've got innocent people in here, Damon."

Damon pushed the Sheriff back further with his arm. "Your people will be fine, Liz. They're not here for you. Get back inside and stay there until we're gone."

"How do you know they'll follow you?" she asked.

Damon smirked as the former history teacher took another step toward him. "I'm pretty sure Tanner's here for me. I think he took exception to our last meeting."

Sheriff Forbes glared hard at Damon. "I always wondered who killed him."

"Ehh," Damon shrugged, "I was having a bad night."

"And that means," the Sheriff looked from Elena to the other shade and back again. Her expression was shadowed with disappointment in the little girl she'd watched grow up.

Elena jerked her eyes away from her best friend's mom and focused on the shade again. "I can hate myself later, okay? Right now we have to lead these things away from town. Bonnie said we can't fight them with physical means. They don't actually have a body."

"Where will you go?" the Sheriff asked.

"The closest house with a protective circle," Damon said.

"That's my place," she told them. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. "Here," she tossed them to Damon, "I'll call the boarding house and let them know what's going on." She looked at each of them one more time. "Good luck."

Damon nodded and then barked a command at Elena. "Go!"

Elena sped away trusting blindly that Damon was right behind her.

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Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Rat in a Cage

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Don't kill me for how this chapter ended. If I didn't end it where I did, it might have never ended at all. It was turning into this massive monster that had a life of its own. I can tell you that I had already written another 700 words or so that are now the beginning of the next chapter so hopefully it won't take me as long to get it written and posted up this time. As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think. Your reviews really keep me going.

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Chapter Thirteen

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If someone had told Damon a month ago he'd be racing around Mystic Falls after Elena again he'd have laughed and told them he preferred curls these days. He had really and truly believed he was over this shit. Sure, he knew he still loved her. He couldn't control that. He still had dreams about her sometimes, nightmares mostly that involved violent crashes and dark water and the light fading from her beautiful human eyes, but Damon truly thought he'd learned his lesson where Elena Gilbert was concerned. The girl was made for Stefan. She was all goodness and sweetness and light just like baby brother was so damned determined to pretend to be.

Honestly, Damon didn't even want Stefan's Elena. He didn't want that perfect Disney damsel. He wanted the warrior princess he'd trained. He wanted the fire and passion and fight that seemed to disappear right about the same time as Stefan started sporting his broody brow again. As far as Damon was concerned, Saint Stefan and Angelic Elena were welcome to each other. He preferred to keep living in the real world like the big bad monster he was.

The only problem with that theory was that Elena wasn't looking nearly as angelic these days. As Damon dove to the left and around the shade currently chasing Miss Gilbert, he tried to reconcile the Elena he'd left behind more than a year before with the fierce, if often erratic, vampire he'd found in her place. He'd been back a day and she'd already attacked two people, dumped Stefan, shown some serious jealous tendencies, and owned up to killing at least one human. Who was this girl?

"Damon?" she called behind her.

"Keep going!" He ordered. They'd just rounded a corner and turned onto Liz's street. "Don't stop until you're on the porch."

"Just making sure you're with me."

Damon rolled his eyes. "No, I decided to drop by the Grill and grab a drink."

She sped up the front steps and barely stopped herself before running into the door. She turned to face him as he stopped beside her. "I meant, once upon a time, it would have been just like you to send me running and stay behind to fight them off yourself."

Damon smirked. "Yes, but I liked you then."

Elena took a step toward him and into his personal space. She glared up at him. "You still like me."

He lifted one brow. "Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart."

She opened her mouth to growl a reply but thought better of it. She sighed and shook her head stepping back to give him space. Then she looked toward the front yard and the shades. They were hovering just outside the salt line. She frowned. "They didn't try to cross the line." Her eyes narrowed and he could see the veins crawling beneath her skin. She sniffed the air and cocked her head to the side as she studied them.

It was hot as fuck. Watching her, feeling his skin tingle in awareness of another predator in close proximity, Damon felt himself begin to harden in his pants against his will. All that silky chestnut hair, sharp feral eyes, and clenched teeth, she was fucking gorgeous. The way her head was cocked to the side left her neck exposed and Damon's eyes trailed down to the tempting sight. Unwarranted, his mind flashed back to his dream that morning and his groin tightened even further.

Elena cut her eyes to his. "Why didn't they try to cross the line?"

Damon jerked his gaze back up. He frowned and shrugged angry at himself for backsliding. "How the fuck should I know? Do I look like Judgey to you?"

Elena ignored his verbal jabs. "The one this morning paused at the line but then he dove over it to try to get to us. You don't think it's possible for them to get smarter, do you?"

Damon wanted to snap at her…badly. Instead he bit his tongue so hard he tasted blood. Elena immediately frowned and sniffed the air. Her eyes filled with concern. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"I smell blood." She leaned toward him and sniffed again.

He wanted to pin her to the house and offer her a taste. Maybe she could kiss it and make it all better. He ground his teeth together and groaned as he turned away from her and toward the front door. He was so fucking domesticated. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Liz's keys. Ignoring the obvious car key on the ring, he started trying the others in the lock. "Let's get inside the damn house."

Two keys later they were in. The house phone had just stopped ringing when the door swung open. There was a moment of silence and then it started ringing again. Elena stepped around him and walked toward it. "That's probably for us."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Ya think?"

She picked up the receiver and placed it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Is Damon with you? Are you both okay?" he heard his brother's voice through the line.

Sighing, Elena held the phone out to him. "I'm going to check in Care's room. I'm starving and she usually keeps a few bags in her mini-fridge."

The image of Blondie stocking bagged blood in a mini-fridge in her room made Damon smile. He took the phone and put it to his ear. "Sup, Steffy?"

"You two are okay?"

"We're just dandy," Damon drawled. "By the way, how many humans have you let Elena kill in the last year?"

"I didn't let Elena do anything, Damon," Stefan growled. "The transition hasn't been easy for her. She slipped a few times in the beginning and once about eight months ago. If you'd been here, maybe you would know that."

Damon rolled his eyes. Like Stefan hadn't wanted to throw a party the moment he left town. His brother was so full of shit. Still, this wasn't getting them anywhere. He could argue all day that he would have watched her better; that he wouldn't have let Elena carry the guilt of ending a human life, but who really knew? Elena had made her choice. Stefan was who she wanted and Stefan was who she got. Besides, shit happens. The past couldn't be changed and Elena seemed to be dealing at least somewhat okay. She hadn't fallen apart at the sight of the shade and that was something.

"Why are you calling me on Liz's house phone?" Damon changed the subject. "I have my cell phone."

"I didn't want to distract you if you were still running from the shades," Stefan said. "I knew if you answered this line you'd be safe inside the house."

"Hmm…" Damon pursed his lips, "that actually makes sense. I'm impressed."

"Believe it or not, I'm not a complete idiot," Stefan said.

Damon smiled and opened his mouth, but Stefan cut him off. "Save it, Damon. What happened with the shades?"

His brother knew him too well. Damon walked over to a window and pulled the curtain to the side. He stared down Tanner's inky black eyes. "Oh, they're fine. They're playing in Liz's front yard even as we speak."

"So you're trapped?" Stefan asked. "They didn't try to cross the salt?"

"You don't sound surprised," Damon said.

"Let's just say we've got a few uninvited visitors at the boarding house."

More shades? "Oh fabulous," Damon drawled, "anyone I know? Because I think Coach Tanner's mad at me for not supporting your dreams of playing college football."

Stefan ignored that. "Bonnie's still working on the potion but for the time being we're stuck, and…we have another problem."

Damon dropped the curtain back down and ran his free hand through his hair. "Spit it out, Steffy."

"One of the ingredients is pretty rare and we don't have it here," Stefan said. "Bonnie knows where we can get it, but…"

"But Judgey is stuck in the house with you," Damon finished. "We need someone on the outside to gather the supplies."

"Preferably someone not human," Stefan agreed.

Damon thought about it; then shrugged. "Call the Original Bitch. You do have her on speed dial, right?"

Stefan ignored the dig. "Rebekah might work, but what if the shades attack her when she gets to the boarding house?"

Damon smirked. "Yay?"

"Damon…"

"The only thing that can kill the bitch is currently missing, Stefan," Damon reminded him. "And somehow I don't think she's number one on Original Mama's hit list."

"You think Esther's after Klaus," Stefan reasoned.

"I think she'll get around to Bex eventually," Damon said, "but Rebekah still pales in comparison to her big brother Satan."

"I'll call Rebekah," Stefan finally agreed. "You and Elena hang tight. Bonnie's checking on other ways to dispel the shades."

"I feel so much better knowing we're all relying on Judgey to save the day," Damon's voice dripped sarcasm. "Call me when you know anything." He turned off the phone and placed it back in its charger. Spinning to face the hallway leading to Blondie's room, he lifted a brow at Elena standing there watching him with a blood bag in her hands. She held it out in offering to him and he sped over to grab it. "So, do you want me to do the stupid human thing and pretend you didn't hear the whole conversation or are we good?"

"We're stuck here?" Elena said.

"Looks like."

The stubborn brunette crossed her arms over her chest and a smile curved her lips. "Then I think this is the perfect opportunity for us to have a little talk."

Damon's mouth fell open. "Oh hell no!" He sped away and into the living room. He grabbed the remote off the end table and turned on the television. Plopping down on the couch, he plastered a fake smile on his face. "I'm sure there's some mindless bullshit on here somewhere we can watch."

"Damon…"

"Did you hear they cancelled Secret Circle, by the way?" He talked over her. "How stupid was that? I mean, that Faye girl was hot."

"We need to talk."

"And it was getting some of the best ratings on the network. Who doesn't want to watch a show about hot young witches and their wacky magical hijinks?" He paused as something occurred to him and he shuddered dramatically. "I just imagined a reality show devoted entirely to Judgey. I may have nightmares."

"I'll be sure to pitch her the idea," Elena smirked. She moved to sit down beside him. "By the way, Stefan and I broke up last night."

Damon made a pained face. "Oh god, spare me. I'm sure you two crazy kids can work things out." He edged as far away from her on the couch as he could manage and tried to focus on the television screen.

"We can't work it out this time, Damon. It's over. Both of us know it and accept it. We love each other, but we're not in love with each other anymore. We're just too different now. We can't go back."

"Real love takes work," Damon said even as his eyes widened that he'd managed to force the words out. "Whatever your problems are, you can work through them."

"We can't work through this," Elena forced.

"What?" Damon asked desperately. "Stefan's denial? He's always had problems facing reality, Elena. He had an imaginary friend until he was twelve. Kick him in the ass enough times and he'll pull his head out of the sand."

Elena rolled her eyes. "It isn't just about Stefan's denial, Damon."

"You will get through your depression, Elena. Vampire emotions are overwhelming and you had a lot of crap pent up inside you that you hadn't dealt with. It makes perfect sense that you'd go a little crazy when you got turned." He turned to face her and his eyes were completely serious. "You're one of the strongest people I have ever met. Your core has always been made of pure steel. You'll get it under control."

She smiled at him and her eyes glazed with tears. "It isn't just about my depression either, Damon. I'm dealing with that. I'm actually doing a lot better."

"Then what?" Damon demanded. "What could epic love possibly not be able to handle?"

Elena took a deep breath and held his piercing gaze. "I don't think either one of us can get past the fact that I'm in love with his brother."

Damon's whole world froze. He shook his head in disbelief. "You did not just say that."

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Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	15. Chapter Fourteen: White Flag

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: I keep thinking I'm going to get these chapters out faster but it just isn't happening. Sorry guys. I'm busy as crap right now and I can only do what I have time to do. I really appreciate all your continued support and everyone who has reviewed. You guys really do keep me going and inspire me to find the time to keep writing. I'll try to reply to your reviews.

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Chapter Thirteen

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"I love you, Damon."

Damon jerked his head from side to side. He couldn't believe she was doing this now. He couldn't fucking believe this shit. She tried to edge toward him and he quickly pushed himself to his feet and started pacing. "This is bullshit. You can't just say that! Do you have any idea what that does to me?"

"I've spent the last year hating myself for not saying it sooner," Elena's eyes blazed with passion as she stood up and placed herself in his path. He stopped and she faced him down. "I should have told you the truth, Damon. Even if I was determined to play it safe and pick Stefan, you deserved to know the truth. I loved you then and I love you a hundred times more now."

Damon scoffed and tried to push her off track. "That doesn't even make sense. You haven't seen me in a year."

"I'm a vampire," Elena growled. "It makes perfect sense. I love puppies and bunnies a hundred times more than I did a year ago." She stalked another step closer to him and pushed on. "But more than that, I know what it's like to lose you. I can't go through that again. I can't even bear the thought of facing my eternity without you in it. I don't work without you. You are it for me."

Damon was shaken. He needed distance and perspective. He needed her to back the fuck off and get OUT of his personal space. Grinding his teeth, he glared down at her. "It will always be Stefan. Remember that?"

"I was a stupid kid when I said that, Damon!" Elena yelled. "Even a year ago I knew that was a lie. I love you, dammit. Why can't you accept that?"

Damon saw red. "Because no one ever does!" he spat. "I'm not the brother who everyone loves, Elena. I'm the brother who gets fucked and then fucked over!"

"That is the bullshit, Damon!" she poked her finger into his chest. "You never let anyone close to you! You never LET anyone love you!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" Elena said. She put her hands on her hips. "Who hasn't loved you, Damon? Who all chose Stefan?"

Damon was afraid to move. If he moved, he might do something he'd never forgive himself for…like snap her pretty little neck to shut her the fuck up.

Refusing to back down from his daunting silence, Elena gritted her teeth and dug in instead. It had to be said. If they were ever going to work through all their shit then Damon had to face his demons too. It was the only way the two of them even had a chance. "Is this about your father?"

"Don't go there," he was like a statue, not even breathing.

"The man shot and killed BOTH of his sons," Elena forced. "He was a bastard! He was a pathetic excuse for a human being and I hope it HURT when Stefan killed him."

"Oh trust me, it did," Damon drawled. "Your epic love is a messy eater."

Elena started shaking all over. She could feel herself losing control. "HE'S NOT MY EPIC LOVE!" As she noticed the light in Damon's eyes, she ruthlessly forced herself back under control. She glared at him. "Stop it. I'm not going to let you manipulate me, Damon. We're doing this."

Damon cocked his head to the side and lifted one utterly sarcastic brow. "We're not doing shit, Elena. There is no us and there never will be."

Her chest clenched but Elena took in a long deep breath and blew it out. "Moving on then. Who's next? Katherine?"

Damon jerked backward and sped to stare out the living room windows.

"Katherine never loved you or Stefan, Damon," Elena forced. "By the time she met the two of you I don't think she was even capable of it. She'd sold too many pieces of her soul by then. Katherine is more fucked up than you or Stefan could ever hope to be."

"She chose Stefan," Damon spoke despite himself. "She wanted the golden boy, not me."

"She wanted the challenge, Damon," Elena said. As much as her arms ached to comfort him, she knew he needed his space and so she stayed across the room as she pushed on. "You were already a man. You knew women and you'd seen pain and death. Stefan was an innocent boy. She wanted to take that innocence and taint it. She enjoyed the challenge of leading Stefan into her darkness. She wanted to mold him into her perfect plaything."

Elena threw her hands in the air. "Look at her now! Stefan didn't turn out the way she wanted him to, so she's running around after you like a bitch in heat."

After letting the silence stretch for a moment, Elena spoke again. "So who else is there, Damon? Who else chose Stefan? Who else have you ever let close enough to even have a choice?"

He refused to answer and Elena felt tears clog her throat as she offered him her heart once again. "Are we to me yet? Because I'm standing here right now telling you that I chose wrong. I am so in love with you, Damon. My love for you consumes me and I'm not afraid of it anymore."

Still turned away from her, Damon reached up and gripped his hair in his hands. "I'm just here to find the fucking stake."

"The choice is yours this time, Damon," Elena said. "And I wouldn't blame you if you don't want anything to do with me after what I put you through last year. But I love you and I'm not letting you leave me again without a fight. You deserve to be fought for." She smiled and tears escaped her eyes to trail down her cheeks. "You always fought for me. The least I can do is return the favor."

When Damon finally turned back to face Elena his eyes were a swirling storm of emotions. She couldn't begin to sort them all out. She winced internally knowing she'd dropped a lot on him and that he was reaching his breaking point which was never a good thing. But she couldn't regret saying her piece. She had to get it out there. It had to be said before he could run away again. Now she just hoped Caroline's house survived the fallout.

Before either one of them could break the silence the house phone started ringing again. Elena stared at the handset charging on the end table in indecision. She knew she should answer it, but she couldn't seem to make herself move. Just as she'd decided to let it ring out, this time the answering machine kicked in and Caroline's perky voice filled the air asking the caller to leave a message.

The loud beep sounded and then the voice of the genuine article replaced the recording. "Elena? Hellooooo? Elena, pick up the phone."

Elena bit her lip guiltily. She should answer the phone. Caroline might have the answer to their current dilemma and as much as she hated giving Damon the chance to run away they needed to deal with the shades before anyone got hurt. Her heightened senses told her the two shades were still in the front yard and Caroline did have innocent human neighbors.

"HELLO! Elena, answer the phone!" There was a brief pause and then an outraged gasp filled the air. "So help me god Elena Gilbert, if you have sex with Damon in my house I will kill you both!"

Damon stared at the phone in disbelief. "Is she on crack?"

Elena snorted and covered her mouth with her hand to fight back horrified laughter.

"Damon, I will SO tell my mom and she will shoot you!" the blonde continued. "Besides, that is not appropriate for your first time. You two have been building up to this for years. There should be romance and candles and a suite somewhere paid for by the Salvatore family fortune. Do you two have no shame?" she paused. "Okay, let me edit. Elena, do you have no shame?"

Damon sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Would you answer that before she gives herself a stroke?"

Elena sped over and grabbed the handset. She placed it to her ear. "Caroline, chill! We're not having sex in your house. Seriously? You think I would do that?"

"Three words, Elena: skeezy motel groping," Caroline reminded her. "Jeremy was in the next bed."

Elena gritted her teeth. "We weren't in the room with Jeremy. We were on the balcony."

"Eww…public skeezy motel groping?"

Elena heard Damon chuckle and threw him a dark look. "Why are you calling us, Caroline? You know, other than to stick your nose even further into my love life?"

"I'm your best friend," Caroline said. "It's my job to stick my nose in your love life."

"Caroline!"

"Fine, be that way." Elena could hear the whine in the blonde's voice. "I'm calling with an update on the shades."

Elena and Damon's eyes met. "And?" she asked.

"Stefan called Bitchy Spice and she agreed to get the last ingredient Bonnie needs for the potion," Caroline told them. "She's supposed to be doing that now. Oh, and Bonnie found a spell that might let her kill the shades but she and Stefan are fighting about whether or not she should try it. She'd have to cross the salt to cast the spell and Stefan thinks we should wait to try the potion instead."

Elena frowned. "I agree with Stefan. We can't endanger Bonnie when the potion might work. We're fine for the time being, right?"

Caroline snorted. "Fine's a word. We've had a few complications over here."

"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked. "Why didn't he call?"

"Caroline?" Elena asked.

"Stefan's dealing with Katherine and two of the complications," Caroline answered. "Do you know she had people delivering furniture today? These two guys drove up in a delivery truck about half an hour ago. Stefan and Katherine managed to get them inside around the shades, but they started screeching about Zombieland and wouldn't shut up until Katherine compelled the crap out of them. I'm not even sure they know their own names anymore at this point."

"But she didn't really hurt them?" Elena forced.

"Last I checked, they were sitting on the couch eating invisible popcorn and watching a television that wasn't turned on," Caroline said. "Take that how you will."

Damon chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "This town is like Murphy's Law in practice."

"I can't believe we've got two random humans trapped in the boarding house with them," Elena told him.

"Katherine actually said at least we'd have snacks if we ran out of bagged blood," Caroline said. "She is SUCH a bitch. I thought Bonnie's head was going to explode."

"Is that everything, Care?" Elena questioned.

"Did Stefan tell you about Elijah earlier?"

"What about Elijah?" Elena and Damon asked at the same time.

"He finally called Stefan back," Caroline said. "He found Klaus. They both know about the stake and they said they're looking into it. Elijah said they have some leads and they'll get back to us. I'm assuming that means they're using whoever Klaus' newest pet witch is to try to track it down.

Then Elena remembered something or more accurately someone and a wave of guilt rolled her over. "Has anyone heard from Jeremy?"

Rolling his eyes, Damon motioned he was going to the kitchen. Elena nodded and continued catching up on everyone with Caroline. About ten minutes later she finally ended the call and turned to look for Damon. He was standing propped in the doorway holding two bottles of liquor.

"Jeremy's with Tyler and Matt," Elena told him. "They were together at the Grill when everything started going down earlier. They went back to the Lockwood mansion. They haven't seen any shades."

Damon nodded. "I heard," he reminded her. Elena felt her face flush and he grinned at her embarrassment. He held up the bottles and wiggled them at her. "If we have to be stuck here, I see no reason we have to be sober."

Elena recognized the reckless glint in Damon's eyes. She knew how close to the edge he was. They were both wound dangerously tight and she knew adding alcohol was a very bad idea. But the expression on his face was a dare, the curve of his lips an invitation she was helpless to resist. She'd missed him so damn much. The words were out of her mouth before she could second guess them. "I call the tequila."

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Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Cleaning Out My Closet

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last few chapters. I'm sorry I haven't been more on the ball with replies but we're going through a transition at my work and I'm just hoping to ride it out in one piece at this point. I can promise that I'm still writing. I'll get the chapters up as regularly as I can. I hope you like the latest installment.

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Chapter Fifteen

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"So how do you know where Caroline's mom keeps her liquor anyway?" Elena asked lazily.

She was sprawled out on the couch in Caroline's living room with her feet in Damon's lap. He was sitting sideways at the other end with his legs crossed. Elena had a half-empty bottle of Tequila clutched in her fist.

When she turned to look at Damon, his smile was wolfish. Elena made a face. "Eww…yuck. Never mind. Forget I asked."

Damon shrugged. "It's not like this is news to you. Blondie still whines about it often enough."

"I don't care," Elena shook her head, but then groaned and reached up to cover her eyes because the room was spinning. "I don't want to think about it. You and Caroline is just…icky." She made another face. "I don't understand why you even went there."

Tilting his head back against the arm of the couch, Damon thought back to the first few months after he rolled into town. He thought about the bubbly blonde with the not-so-hidden black hole of emotional insecurity inside her she was trying to overcompensate for. Caroline had been like the little engine that could. She'd believed if she just kept pushing hard enough, she'd eventually make her way to the top. Unfortunately competing against Elena meant losing every damn time. Honestly Damon had identified with that emotional angst more than he wanted to admit.

Damon winced and reached behind him to pick up his discarded bottle of booze for another swallow or three. "Blondie wasn't half bad when she kept her mouth shut…or when I kept her mouth busy," Damon mused.

Elena sat up. Her glare was fierce. "Don't make me kick your ass, Damon. That's my best friend you're talking about."

Damon rolled his eyes. The girl might claim to love him, but she would never really understand him. "She makes a fierce little vamp, not that I'd ever admit it to her. But there have been far more worthless vampires running around out there with my blood in their veins."

Elena's eyes got big at that statement. Damon wondered what ridiculous shit was running through that head of hers now. She swallowed another gulp of tequila before she spoke. "It was your blood, you know. Your blood turned me."

FUCK! Damon gulped down more booze. He didn't need to know that. He'd suspected, of course, but he'd never had the balls to actually look into the matter. Some things were best left alone, dammit. Thinking about Elena turning on his blood was one more mindfuck Damon did not need.

Realizing Elena was waiting for some response, Damon mock-toasted the air with his bottle of brandy. "Three cheers for Doctor Bloodjacker."

Elena just stared at him solemnly. "I'm glad it was your blood, Damon. I wouldn't have wanted it to be anyone else's."

Damon ground his teeth together and somehow resisted the urge to throw the bottle of liquor at the wall. He shoved Elena's feet out of his lap and stood from the couch to tower over her. "It shouldn't have been anyone's blood, Elena. You shouldn't be fucking dead! Don't you get that yet? If my baby brother wasn't so fucking useless then he would have saved both you and Matt at the same time! No matter what 'I-wish-I-was-a-real-boy' bullshit he feeds himself or how many woodland creatures he sucks dry, Stefan is a vampire! He should have pulled your seatbelt loose, grabbed Matt, and drug you both to the surface at the same time. Why can't you get that?"

Elena pushed herself to her feet and faced him. She wobbled slightly but used her new enhanced awareness and balance to compensate. "I do get that, Damon. I realized that a long time ago. But dwelling on it would destroy Stefan and you know it. It's the reason you've never thrown it in his face. You blamed him for accepting my choice and saving Matt and not me, but you never forced him to face the reality of his mistake. You don't really want to destroy Stefan any more than I do."

Sure, she would go and get all rational about it. Damon rolled his eyes and sped away to stare out the living room windows into the front yard. He waved merrily at Tanner staring back at him. He was seriously considering going out on the front porch to taunt the former football coach just for shits and giggles when Elena moved to stand beside him.

Elena cocked her head to the side and studied Tanner closely. "Does it make me a really bad person that I don't really care that you killed Coach Tanner because it got us Alaric?"

Damon snorted. "I'm damn proud of myself actually. Apparently the guy was an asshole."

"He really was," Elena frowned. "Not that it makes it okay for you to kill people." She waggled her finger at him. "Don't do that." Then she just kept staring at her wagging finger in fascination. A goofy grin curved her lips.

Damon snickered. He was having such a good time watching her losing battle with the effects of the alcohol he decided not to point out that the other shade was one of her kills. She might move from grinning drunken Elena to mopey drunken Elena and he really wasn't in the mood. "I'll be on my best behavior. I'm practically a boy scout these days anyway." Her answering look was disbelieving and Damon smirked. "You'd be surprised."

Elena shrugged. "I'm just glad you're back, honestly. I'll pretty much take you any way I can get you." She either ignored or missed the reaction that statement drew from Damon. She leaned toward the window unconcerned. "So who do you think is behind all this crap?"

Damon was still trying to pull his jaw up off the floor and resist his body's impulse to pin Elena up against the windows and give Tanner a show. He glared at her, fucking tease. "I don't know. That Jennifer chick sounds like a good suspect. I'd be pissed if vamps ate my cousin." Then he thought about that statement and grinned. "Actually, no, I WAS the vamp that ate my cousins. But it always pissed Steffy off."

Elena frowned. "I don't know. She's just one girl."

"That we know of," Damon reminded her. "She probably has help. She could be part of a coven of witches." He thought about it. "We know witchcraft runs through bloodlines. The rest of her family might be involved."

Elena gasped and turned to face him. Her eyes lit up with passion. "It could be Katherine!"

Damon stared at her for a moment in disbelief. Then he started laughing so hard he almost fell over. It was a good thing he wasn't human anymore because he couldn't fucking breathe! She was killing him. "Holy shit, you really are a jealous little thing, aren't you?" he managed to force out.

Elena glared at him. "She knows about the shades."

"She's five hundred years old, Elena," Damon told her still chuckling. "She knows about everything. She was also stuck up Emily's ass a hundred and fifty years ago. She learned everything she could about witchcraft."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the windows again. "It was just an idea."

"Katherine was with me in Alabama when all of this started happening, Elena," Damon said. "So, no, it couldn't be Katherine."

Elena bit her lip. Her eyes welled with tears and Damon wondered what he'd said wrong now. He didn't have to wait long. "I can't believe you forgave her."

Damon rolled his eyes and turned away. "It's really none of your business, Elena. Katherine and I have a complicated relationship and it started long before you were even born." A part of Damon wanted to fess up and reassure her he wasn't involved with Katherine, but an equally large part wanted to lie his ass off and feed her fabricated stories about their recent sexual exploits. He settled for keeping things vague and telling her to mind her own damn business. Let her stew for being left out for once.

"That's not what I mean," Elena shook her head and tears escaped to trail down her cheeks. "I know I have no business making judgments where you and Katherine are concerned. I made my choice, as stupid as it was, and I can't blame you for moving on."

Damon bit back his denial of her statement. He was not going to surrender to a few tears. He lifted one brow instead. "So?"

"So, I just mean…" she shrugged and looked at her feet, "I don't understand why you can forgive Katherine for everything she did to you, but you can't forgive me."

Damon laughed but the sound was bitter even to his own ears. "You don't want that kind of forgiveness, Elena. Trust me."

She blinked those big doe eyes up at him. He could still see the tears sparkling on her lashes. "What do you mean?"

Heaving a sigh, Damon decided to give just a little. He blamed the liquor. It was softening him up and blurring his resolve. "I can forgive Katherine because I'm over it, Elena. The wound doesn't hurt anymore. It's healed over." He made a face and lifted the bottle of brandy for another drink. "I haven't forgotten what Katherine did to me. I chose to let it go. It's not worth the effort of hating her anymore. There's no point."

Elena's eyes sparkled as his words penetrated her alcohol sodden brain. A huge smile curled her lips. "Because you're over her!" she realized. She bounced up and down in place and tried to resist the urge to throw herself at him. "You're not in love with Katherine anymore!"

Damon took a deep swallow and savored the burn as it went down. He was such a sucker. "I do love Katherine," he tried to take a step back.

"But you're not IN love with Katherine," Elena pushed. "I should know. I feel the same way about Stefan. A part of me will always love him, but I'm not IN love with him anymore. I spent most of the last year not bothering to fight with Stefan because I didn't care enough to make it matter."

Damon gritted his teeth listening to that. "It didn't stop you from staying with him though, did it? You can say you love me all day long, but you didn't break up with Stefan until last night, Elena. Actions speak louder than words."

"You weren't here, Damon," Elena said. She dug her fingernails into her palms and prayed she could get through to him. "To begin with I thought I was honoring my choice. Everything felt wrong and I was falling apart from the turning and the depression, but I tried because I felt like I had to." She still had problems piecing together everything that happened during that time. It was so chaotic and she'd been such a mess. "I could barely function, Damon. It's not like Stefan and I were sharing romantic moonlit dinners and going on dates. I was fighting the bloodlust and trying to remember that breaking someone's arm wasn't an acceptable way to win an argument." She smiled bitterly. "I hated everything and everyone, but no one more than I hated myself."

"By the time I started to pull myself together months had passed," Elena said. "Stefan and I had fallen into a routine and I honestly couldn't bring myself to care enough to change it. You weren't here. I couldn't have what I really wanted. I just didn't care, Damon."

"Once Caroline, Bonnie, and I diagnosed me, we started focusing all our energy on that. I spent every day working on pulling myself out of my depression, learning to manage my symptoms. Stefan was so stubborn and determined to deny what was wrong with me. He just made me angry when we talked about it. So we stopped talking about it." She shrugged and looked back out the window to avoid his stare. "I spent more and more time at home and away from the boarding house. We stopped having sex. Our relationship felt like play acting, make believe."

She forced herself to turn and face him again. "I shouldn't have let it linger on, I know that. But I felt like I was frozen in ice somewhere and nothing could wake me up. Nothing did until Caroline showed up in my room yesterday and fidgeted her way through a confession that you were back in town."

Damon opened his mouth to speak several times before finally forcing some words out. "You could have looked for me." It sounded ridiculous even to his own ears.

"You didn't want to be found, Damon," Elena reminded him. "You even changed your number."

Technically he'd broken his old phone into about twenty pieces. He hadn't bothered to get a new one or change his number until over a month later, but he didn't see any reason to get into all that. He took in her expectant expression and groaned. "I'm not nearly drunk enough for this shit."

Elena sped across the room to pick up her bottle of tequila from the coffee table. She smiled at him gleefully as she held it up and wiggled it at him before tipping it back to her lips. "Then drink up. We've got all day."

Damon forced a smile and slipped his phone out of his pocket. He typed in an urgent text to Katherine that read one word: HELP!

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Going Under

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: I am so sorry for the extra long wait on this one. I would love to blame this on work, but honestly I got stuck. I started this chapter about five times, but I just couldn't get into it. I needed something and couldn't figure out what it was. It turns out I needed a break and to get out of the Forbes' house for a minute. I introduced a new POV here which I wasn't expecting. I hope you guys approve. I am also really nervous about how you guys will take the second half of the chapter. I know I can't please everyone, but I hope you guys aren't disappointed. I had to stay true to what I felt needed to happen. Please let me know what you think. I really appreciate your feedback.

Also…I will be replying to your feedback from the last chapter. I just didn't want to make you wait any longer on this.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

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Katherine scoffed in disgust as she tapped out a quick reply to the urgent text from Damon. Whipped puppies, she'd lusted for two dark princes to spend eternity at her side and she'd turned a pair of fucking whipped puppies. "That's what I get for being greedy. Anthony Fell was not this big a pain in the ass." Then she smirked to herself. Of course, he also wasn't nearly as hot.

"Katherine, are you even listening to me?"

Rolling her eyes, Katherine looked up from the phone to meet Stefan's irritated gaze. "Not even remotely." She internally snickered as he ground his teeth together. Changing her tone as if she were speaking to a two-year-old, she smiled at him. "If I don't listen to the bullshit that pours out of your mouth, it helps me resist the impulse to kill you just for fun."

He took one rash and foolish step toward her before reality reasserted itself and he remembered who he was threatening. Katherine cocked her head to the side and blew him a kiss. Stefan groaned and lifted his hands to rub his eyes. "I should have gone with Damon."

Her eyes quickly dropping back to her phone, Katherine choked on a laugh. "Trust me, baby, you wouldn't be enjoying yourself right now." The flash of pain that crossed his face had her rolling her eyes again…fucking whipped puppies. She took a breath and smiled sweetly at him. "Now what were you whining about?"

Stefan forced his angst away for the moment. He tried to reason with Katherine seriously. "You can't just threaten the humans like that, Katherine. Bonnie and Caroline don't handle your particular brand of humor well."

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest and glared. "What do you want from me, Stefan? I didn't kill the idiots. I even gave Bob and Dave popcorn with their movie."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Stefan growled. "Their names are not Bob and Dave!"

"Who the fuck cares, Stefan?" Katherine growled back. "They're not important. They're just in the way." She was quickly losing patience with this entire situation. Why did she get stuck in this damn house with Stefan? He was a constant reminder of the epic FAIL that was her love life. He was supposed to be her destiny…her eternity, and instead he was nothing more than a bitter disappointment. He had no problem running around behind her little doppelbitch while she apparently chewed on half the town, but nothing Katherine did was ever right. Nothing she ever did would be good enough for Saint fucking Stefan.

Damn it, why didn't she fall for Damon when she had the chance? Why couldn't she appreciate what she had when she had it? Oh no, she had to fall for that boyish smile and those clear innocent green eyes. Now Stefan actually had himself convinced he'd never loved her at all and Damon had her stuck firmly in the friend zone.

She could already see him gearing up for another lecture on the appreciation of precious human life. Katherine was over it. "UHH!" Spinning on her heel, she stormed out of the room and toward the kitchen. She paused long enough to check on the humans. They were still happily munching away and she smirked. "Enjoy the movie, boys."

The one she'd dubbed Bob turned and smiled at her before looking back toward the blank screen. Dave looked less satisfied. "Can I have something to drink?"

Katherine nodded sweetly. "That popcorn is salty, huh?"

"KATHERINE!"

She focused her eyes on Dave's and pushed her will into him. He smiled and lifted his hand and sipped at his imaginary drink. "Thank you, Katherine."

She chuckled. "You're welcome, sweetie." Turning her head she saw Stefan glaring at her again in disapproval down the hall. She grinned at him smugly. "Dave likes me." She pranced away before he could comment.

The scene Katherine found in the kitchen looked like a mix between a potions' classroom, a chemistry experiment, and a cooking misadventure. There were pots and vials and herbs spread out across every available surface. The sink was piled full of dirty dishes and containers. Katherine wrinkled her nose in disgust. She was not getting stuck cleaning that up.

Emily's holier-than-thou descendant and the bubble-head blonde were bent over the kitchen table stirring their latest attempt at the potion. Caroline looked up to scowl at Katherine when she heard her enter the room. Would she never get over that whole 'killing her' thing? Katherine sighed. "How goes the potion making? Am I going to have to deduct house points?"

The witch frowned but continued to stir. "We're ready to add the last ingredient. Now we're just waiting on Rebekah."

Caroline sighed. "But we have to keep stirring the stupid things until she gets here. I think I'm giving myself carpal tunnel."

"We can't let them settle," Bonnie told her.

"Well Becky needs to hurry her needy ass up," Katherine drawled. "We're running out of time."

Bonnie's face wrinkled in concerned. "Did something else happen? I thought everyone was fine."

Katherine made a face. "No one's dying…yet."

"She needs to get back before those poor guys in the living room have permanent brain damage," Caroline threw Katherine a pointed look.

"She needs to get back before my stupid little doppelbitch climbs her way into Damon's pants," Katherine corrected her.

Caroline gasped in outrage. "NOT IN MY HOUSE!"

Katherine just smirked at her.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and tapped Caroline's pot. "Keep stirring."

Caroline whimpered and reluctantly went back to stirring the potion. "I'm SO telling my mom."

* * *

_GROW A PAIR! I'm stuck with your idiot brother and the Mystic Falls Cheerleading squad. I'm considering surrendering to the shades._

Damon blinked and frowned at his phone. "Is that an option?"

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked suspiciously as she reentered the room from the hallway leading to Caroline's bedroom.

Her eyes locked on the phone in Damon's hands and he gulped and slipped it quickly into his pocket. "No one. Checking in with the boarding house. Did you find anything?"

Elena cocked her head to the side and lifted her brows in a move that Damon found entirely too familiar. "Tell Katherine I said hi and goodbye."

Damon smirked and stretched out to rest his arm across the back of the couch. "You're looking a little green over there, Lena."

She sped around the room and plopped down on the couch right beside him snuggling in close. "How do I look over here?"

Damon groaned and shook his head. "Like trouble." Having just finished off his bottle of liquor (he was really going to owe Liz when this was over), everything was looking warm and fuzzy where Damon was concerned. All those hard lines he'd drawn in between himself and this particular Petrova were getting pretty blurry. He'd never been one to stay inside the lines anyway.

A part of Damon knew that there was a very good reason he'd decided to keep Elena at a distance, but unfortunately that part really didn't know how to hold its liquor. The part of Damon waking up now had far less objections to feeling her pressed up against him. In fact, she could feel free to come a little closer. He felt his arm wrap around her shoulders apparently of its own volition.

Elena purred like a cat and rested her head on his shoulder. She held up two rectangular boxes for his inspection. "We've got 'The Notebook' and 'Dear John'."

Not even alcohol made those choices any better. Damon sat up and made a disgusted face. "Nicholas Sparks? Are you kidding me?"

Elena shrugged. "It was this, the Twilight movies, or just about every old teen movie starring Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, or Hilary Duff." She smiled at him innocently. "I figured we could at least make fun of the mushy love stuff."

Who was she kidding? He scoffed in disbelief. "You'll be crying on me in half an hour."

Elena blinked those big doe eyes up at him and stuck her lower lip out in a pout. Damon groaned and gave in to the inevitable. "Fine, put in 'The Notebook'. If I have to watch Channing Tatum trying to act I won't be held responsible for my actions."

"Okay." Smiling happily, Elena hopped up off the couch and sped over to put the movie in. She was back on the couch and snuggled even closer against him before the drawer finished closing. By the time the opening credits were finished rolling she had her head on his shoulder and one hand curled against his chest playing with the fabric of his shirt.

Looking down at that hand, Damon sighed. She was not making this easy on him. Didn't she understand how hard it was for him to keep pushing her away? He was so damn tired. Coming back to this shithole of a town was supposed to be about saving all their lives. He came back with a job to do. Find the stake, save all their ungrateful lives again, and wave goodbye as he left them to keep living out their undead American dream. He was supposed to keep his distance and she was supposed to make that easy by sticking her head up Stefan's ass where she'd lived since his brooding baby bro had moped his way into town three years ago. Instead, he'd come back to find Epic Love on life support and damn if Elena didn't happily pull the plug before heading straight for Damon like she'd found her new mission in life.

This was not the way it worked. Damon kept waiting for someone in the wings to shout cut and step in to remind Elena that Stefan was the hero in this piece and she was WAY off script. Damon couldn't decide if he'd been cast as the villain or the fool, but he knew he definitely wasn't hero material.

Elena chuckled at the couple on screen. "You would so do that."

Damon reluctantly looked at the television. Ryan Gosling's character was swinging from the Ferris wheel and badgering Rachel McAdams into a date. Damon rolled his eyes. "I'm a vampire. The fall wouldn't hurt me."

Elena grinned up at him. "I know. That's WHY you would do that."

"Or I would have just compelled her," Damon said.

Elena shook her head. "Nope, you wouldn't do that."

Now Damon raised one mocking brow. "Why? Because I have such a shining upstanding character?"

"No," Elena answered as she lifted her head slightly and locked her eyes with his, "because that isn't just a girl, Damon…she's THE girl. You would want it to be real."

He did want it to be real. He wanted THIS to be real. But after putting himself out there for her time and again and getting his guts ripped out, Damon didn't know how to trust her anymore.

Whatever she read in his eyes, Elena's turned sad and as he watched they filmed over with tears. Fuck, he hated her tears. Something that beautiful should never have to cry. Damon would give her the world if she'd let him. Oh, he could talk a good game, but beneath all the anger, beneath all the hurt and the bitterness, he wanted to believe in her again. He just couldn't remember how.

"I missed you so much, Damon," Elena's voice was broken whisper. "And I know you may never be able to fully forgive me for failing you, I know I probably don't deserve your forgiveness, but I just need you to understand how much I love you and how much you mean to me." She bit her lip and slowly closed her eyes. Tears slipped from beneath her lids to train down her cheeks. "You are one of the best things that ever happened to me. You frustrated me, and infuriated me, but you pushed me and challenged me to be strong and to fight for what I wanted. You were exactly what I needed, Damon, and I would have fallen to pieces long before that night beneath Wickery Bridge without you on my side."

Taking a shaky breath, Elena opened her eyes again and Damon thought he could actually see her heart breaking. She forced a smile, but her lips quivered at the effort. "I am so sorry I didn't recognize that until I'd already thrown it all away. Trust me, it was my loss."

Gritting his teeth, Damon growled under his breath. "Damn it, Elena." He turned his body and brought his hands up to cup her face between them. He brushed his thumbs across her cheeks wiping away her tears and took in her startled expression before sealing his lips over hers. Elena gasped and Damon took full advantage deepening the kiss and sliding his tongue into her mouth. Finally catching up, Elena buried her fingers in his hair and kissed him back eagerly. She angled her head and moaned as she sucked on his tongue and arched against him.

Damon slid his hands down and around Elena wrapping her in his arms. He explored her mouth and savored the taste of her even as his mind reeled that he was here again, that this was actually happening. It had been over a year since he tasted her. They'd both changed, been through a hell of a lot since then. Yet still she tasted exactly like she always had, like Damon accepted she always would, Elena tasted like home.

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Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Everybody Talks

Title: Love's Fool

Summary: Elena made her choice and Damon kept up his end of the deal. He left Mystic Falls more than a year ago and he hasn't looked back since. Now the Original stake has gone missing and suddenly they need him again. But Damon has no intention of playing their whipping boy anymore and this time he has a powerful ally on his side.

Spoilers: Everything through the S3 finale.

Pairings: Delena.

Disclaimer: If I owned Vampire Diaries there would be a lot less of Damon getting left to die heartbroken and alone. As it is, I can only hope to vent my frustration by punishing those characters responsible.

Note: Sorry for the massively long wait on this one guys. I am still getting my brains beat out at work and I just don't have time to write. I haven't given up on the story at all. I can't tell you how long it is going to end up being and I'm positive it will not be finished by the time the show premieres for the new season (which I still haven't decided if I'm watching yet), but I have every intention of finishing it. I hope you can be patient with me. I really appreciate all your support.

Thank you for all your kind reviews. I will reply to them.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

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A hiss and a wail brought Elena to instant awareness. She lifted her head from Damon's shoulder and reached out with her senses. "The shades…" she couldn't sense them anymore. She noted absently that the sun had gone down and lowered the lighting in the room. The movie was repeating the menu screen. They'd fallen asleep sometime before the movie was over and several hours must have passed.

"About damn time," Damon's voice was husky with sleep and perhaps still affected by the alcohol they'd consumed. He ran one hand down Elena's back and used the other to push himself into a more upright position.

The affectionate touch made Elena grin. She smothered it when she felt those devastating blue eyes land on her. Although she was hopeful after their earlier kisses, she had no idea how Damon would react now that the moment had passed. Elena tried to brace herself for another possible rejection, but she knew it would hurt if it came. She felt him study her face and fought to keep her expression neutral as she carefully averted her eyes.

Finally Damon cleared his throat. His hand climbed up her back to curl into her hair and tug gently. "Sounds like Judgey got her groove back."

Elena let her grin loose as relief surged through her at his teasing tone. She propped her chin on his shoulder and fought back the impulse to kiss him again in gratitude. She didn't want to push him too far too soon. Damon was letting her back in a little, but she knew that he still didn't trust her yet and she couldn't blame him. She knew she still had her work cut out for her, but this was progress and she couldn't contain her happiness.

Elena attempted to mimic one of his typical expressions and lift one brow. She didn't know how well it worked but he smiled at the attempt. She mock-admonished him. "You know Bonnie always comes through for us, Damon."

Damon made a face. "Oh god, here we go." He mocked her voice. "Let's all get along."

Her grin just widened but before she could reply she felt and heard the arrival of someone in the doorway. "You decided to get drunk?"

Elena winced and pulled guiltily away from Damon. She scooted to the other side of the couch and busied herself straightening her hair and clothes. She didn't even want to think about the picture they presented. Two deadly supernatural manifestations outside in the front yard and they were cuddled up on the couch with a bunch of empty liquor bottles. Yea, they were the essence of mature responsibility.

"Oh, bite me, Steffy," Damon drawled as he pushed himself off the couch and faced his brother. "The house is still standing, we haven't killed each other, and we're both fully clothed. Take your victories where you can get them."

Stefan frowned and looked down. "The shades are gone. Bonnie's potion works."

Caroline appeared beside him beaming a smile. "I just killed Coach Tanner. It was totally awesome!"

Damon smirked at her. "Tell me about it."

Elena groaned and avoided Stefan's gaze as he tried to hit her with the guilt face. She did not have anything to feel guilty about. They had been trapped in this house for hours. Both she and Damon were about to snap. The alcohol helped.

Caroline made a face as his meaning sank in, but then she looked Damon up and down and smiled again. "Oh, yay, and you're still dressed. Thank god!"

Damon nodded at Stefan. "See? She gets it."

Stefan rolled his eyes and looked at Caroline. "They're drunk."

"DAMON!" Caroline growled as she took in the empty bottles on the table. "I bought that tequila!"

"Whatever," Damon said. "If I had any respect for you, Blondie, it died with your dvd collection. Nicholas Sparks? SERIOUSLY?"

Caroline looked offended. "What's wrong with my dvd collection?"

Oh crap. Elena moved back out of Damon's line of sight and shook her head frantically at Caroline.

The blonde shot her a look that said there would be explaining later, but quickly turned back to Damon. "You are replacing the liquor."

Damon pointed a finger at her. "The tequila was Elena's!"

"And we're not drunk," Elena said as she stepped up next to Damon.

"Anymore," Damon added helpfully.

Caroline crossed her arms over her chest. "You two get trashed and I get carpal tunnel. I should have come with you." She frowned at Stefan like it was his fault. "I use to be the party girl, you know? I use to be fun."

Stefan sighed. "You're still fun."

Damon snorted. "That's a lie."

"DAMON!" Elena hissed at him. Now was not the time to antagonize Caroline and Elena could see the irritation mounting in her best friend's eyes.

Damon smirked at her unconcerned. "See? Here we go." But his blue eyes twinkled in a way she hadn't seen in a very very long time. His clothes were rumpled, his hair tousled and messy from sleep, and she could still taste that smirking mouth. Elena giggled with happiness before she could stop herself. The air just felt lighter, her heart felt lighter. Damon winked at her and disappeared out of the room.

Once he was gone, the silence became tense and heavy. Elena could feel Stefan's gaze weighing on her. She winced and forced herself to meet it. Stefan looked sad and disappointed. For a moment she almost let herself get pulled back into the shame and guilt she'd always felt when Stefan caught her enjoying spending time with Damon. Then Elena shook herself. She hadn't done anything wrong. They were broken up and they'd been over for way longer than that. "He's not really drunk," she told Stefan and Caroline instead, "He's putting on. We slept the alcohol off."

Caroline rolled her eyes, but Stefan forced a pained smile. "He's Damon. I guess I should expect this behavior from him."

Caroline bit her lip to hide her smile, but Elena saw red. "Stop it, Stefan! Damon's your brother. Stop trying to make him the bad guy. He's a sarcastic ass, he always has been, but he's your brother and he loves you." Elena sped forward and poked her finger into Stefan's chest. "We spent hours wading through our emotional crap, Stefan. We didn't get drunk and have a party. We were stuck here and there was nothing we could do about it."

Stefan's face twisted and he looked down and away from her. Elena backed off and gave Stefan his space because now his pain appeared more genuine. She wasn't that much of a bitch. She softened her tone. "Damon's riding a high because we're finally getting out of here and he's taking it out on you and Caroline with his own particular brand of humor."

Stefan seemed to pull himself together. He stiffened his spine and pushed himself away from the wall. "I can't control what goes on between you and my brother, Elena," his voice dripped bitterness from every word "obviously I never could. But don't expect me to be happy about it." He turned and left the room before she could respond.

"URGH!" Elena growled in frustration. She didn't know if she was angrier at Stefan for playing the victim card or herself for creating the situation to begin with. Actually, on second thought, she was much angrier with herself. Stefan, like Damon, was just being Stefan. He was who he was. When he was hurt or angry he could guilt you like no one else.

Elena had a flashback to Stefan's reaction when she'd completely walked away from the bunny diet. He'd actually given her a lecture on America's blood shortage. He had a paper detailing a blood drive the Red Cross was holding the next week. He'd gone on and on until finally Elena's now permanently short fuse had run out and she'd threatened to hit the blood drive and compel the workers to hand over all their proceeds. Barring that she'd suggested visiting the local frat houses if that would make him feel better. It worked for Damon. He hadn't spoken to her for two days and then he'd shown up on her front porch with sad green eyes and a forgiving smile. It was the newborn rage.

Caroline grinned at Elena's obvious agitation. "Have I mentioned lately I'm REALLY glad I'm not dating either one of them? Give me Tyler, his deadly teeth, and his bat-shit crazy mother any day of the week."

Elena groaned and stuck her tongue out at Caroline.

The blonde giggled. Then with a determined expression she tossed her curls over her shoulder as she moved forward into the center of the room. She took a hesitant experimental sniff of the air and carefully took in the scene.

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side. "NO, we didn't have sex in your house."

Caroline shrugged satisfied. "I dated Damon," she said as explanation, "I know how he deals with boredom." Her eyes landed on the television and she couldn't hold back an incredulous laugh. "Why did you make Damon Salvatore watch 'The Notebook'? I'm surprised he didn't feed himself to the shades."

Elena sped over to stand close to Caroline. She reached out with her senses and caught the sound of Damon's and Stefan's voices arguing in the next room. She hoped he was sufficiently distracted, but she kept her voice at a whisper anyway. "I like 'The Notebook', okay? And I needed something to work with or he was never going to let me in."

Caroline's eyebrows shot up, but she lowered her voice to match. "And what was that crack about my dvd collection? I buy every new movie I find in the five dollar bins, Elena. I own like everything."

Elena knew if she was still human her face would be beet red. She bit her lip and shrugged. "I like 'The Notebook'."

The pieces finally slid together in Caroline's mind and she burst into loud uncontrollable laughter. She pointed at the television and laughed some more. Elena listened guiltily to make sure Damon and Stefan were still bickering away. Caroline stared at her best friend in awe. "You are my hero. I can't believe you conned Damon into watching 'The Notebook' with you to make your move."

"Shhh!" Elena put her finger to her lips and glared at her friend.

Caroline couldn't seem to stop laughing. She did lower her volume though. "Did it work?" she finally managed to gasp out.

Elena couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face and that just set Caroline off all over again. After a moment, Elena shrugged and joined in. It was about time someone beat Damon at the seduction game. The blue-eyed vampire was freaking lethal. A girl had to use whatever tools were at her disposal.

When Elena and Caroline finally made their way into the kitchen some minutes later, Damon and Stefan were still glaring at each other. Damon threw Elena a glance, then continued glaring at his brother. "Jeremy's safe. Katherine and Bonnie are headed to the Lockwoods to check for shades and escort the three stooges back to the boarding house."

"Thank you," Elena said. She looked between them. "Why are you two still fighting?"

Damon made a face. "Because IQ over here fed all the information we have on Liz's suspect to Barbie Klaus."

"What?" Elena gasped in surprise and horror. "Stefan, she'll kill her!"

Stefan frowned at her reaction. "Rebekah's helping us."

"No, Rebekah's covering her own ass," Damon corrected. "She could care less about any of us. She wants that stake, Steffy. That's all she cares about."

"And suddenly you're concerned about the loss of human life?" Stefan bit out. He curled his hands into fists and took a step toward Damon.

Never one to back down, Damon took his own step forward until they were standing nose to nose. "I'm concerned that we need information out of the girl before the Original Bitch kills her in a fit of pique. She's not working alone, Stefan. This is not one witch on a revenge kick. Too much has gone down."

"We have to get to the girl before Rebekah does," Elena said desperately. She didn't want the girl to die. She knew that was crazy if she really was involved in all this, but maybe the situation was somehow still salvageable. The girl had lost her cousin. She hadn't killed anyone yet. There had to be something they could do to fix this.

"Because beating the Originals has worked out so well for us in the past," Damon drawled.

"Damon," Elena pleaded.

He met her eyes briefly, then groaned and reached up to rub his eyes. "Blondie, call your mom and make sure she hasn't released the girl from custody yet. Tell her we're on our way."

Caroline reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone and several vials Elena assumed were filled with the potion. "Here," she passed the vials to Damon and Elena, "have some zombie-be-gone."

Stefan looked confused at the turn of events. "What do you want us to do?"

Damon shrugged and turned toward the door. "Find Twisted Sister? Make sure Baby Gilbert and his sidekicks make it back to the boarding house in one piece? Think up another way to be a massive pain in my ass? Pick one."

Elena threw Stefan one more disappointed look at his lapse in judgment, then followed after Damon. They had a most-likely hostile, possibly quite dangerous, girl to save.

* * *

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